August 2025.
My final Montreal post will cover everything else that didn’t fit neatly into my other articles. This one is gonna be pretty unorganized and jumpy location-wise, since my camera battery was already low and actually died by the end.
Henry Stroud Building & Seybold Building
These two are on Rue Saint-Paul West, dating to the early 20th century due to a fire that destroyed many older Second Empire buildings here. The Henry Stroud Building, on the right, is a less common example of Richardsonian Romanesque architecture in Old Montreal. It was built as a warehouse and named after its owner, and it was designed by John James Browne & Son and completed in 1904. It is currently used as an office building. The columns on the base were obscured by concrete at some point, probably in the 1950s or 1960s, which was removed within the past two decades.
The Seybold Building at left was designed by Robert Findlay in the Beaux-Arts style and completed in 1902. It was built for Seybold & Sons Co., later housing various other manufacturers until 1997, when it was converted to offices and condos.
Montreal History Center/Old Central Firehouse
1910 photo of the old fire station. (McCord Stewart Museum)
After the major fire in this area of Old Montreal in 1901, there was a large effort to improve the facilities and equipment of Montreal’s fire department. This firehouse, designed by Perrault and Lesage in the Eclectic style, was intended to be the headquarters or central alarm for the fire department. However, this never came to fruition. It was completed in 1904 with all the necessary equipment for a firehouse at that time--a stable, horse-drawn engines, a tower for drying hoses, and living quarters for the firefighters.
The fire station was motorized at some point within the next few decades, as the automobile was becoming more popular at that time. Some alterations over the years included removal of some ornamentation and skylights. The station closed in 1972, but it was restored and reopened in 1983 as the Montreal History Center.
The fire station combines many different stylistic features into one design. The arched doorways and banded frieze below the cornice are Romanesque, the dormers and windows are Tudor, and the remaining ornamentation and gable profile are Renaissance. The end result is a fun, picturesque composition.
Former Montreal General Hospital
Interrupting the orthogonal streetscape of Rue Saint-Pierre is this more medieval-looking building. It is a heavily-modified complex once used as a hospital by two convents and originally dating to the late 17th century. The first portion of this building was built between 1693 and 1694, which was two perpendicular wings standing two stories tall, by Francois Charon de la Barre and the Brothers Charon. The Gray Sisters acquired the building in 1747 and conducted major renovations and repairs after a 1765 fire that reduced the building to a shell. They added a floor and may have modified other portions of the building. A “great flood” in 1789 probably meant more renovation work to the first floor.
Two additions were made to the Rue Normand facade in 1847 and 1851, respectively. They both do an acceptable job responding to the original building, but the 1851 addition is wider and both use slightly different masonry. The Gray Sisters left in 1871, and the H-shaped plan the building had at this point was reduced to its current T-shape with the demolition of the northern wing. It was converted into warehouses and further altered through new openings being made inside, along with the construction of smaller buildings on the site.
All the companies inside left by the 1960s, and the Gray Sisters reacquired the site in the early 1970s. The various 19th-century buildings were demolished, and the building was restored to imitate its original appearance. It is currently used as a museum.
Habitat 67
This is a very important 20th-century building that I even learned about in architectural history, but its presence across the Old Port of Montreal meant I would have had to walk an obscene distance to get there. I just busted out the telephoto lens instead and did my best.
Habitat 67 was designed by Moshe Safdie, originally his thesis project at McGill University. After graduation, he was approached and asked to become the master planner for Expo 67, however, he ultimately built Habitat 67 as an independent architect and as one of the various pavilions. His original design featured 1,200 apartments, but as built it contains 354 concrete units with 158 apartments.
Habitat 67 is an example of Brutalist architecture and that movement’s attempts to create affordable, healthy living. It attempted to integrate suburban features, such as gardens, fresh air, and privacy, into a dense urban typology. This was accomplished through each unit having at least one private garden, which was built on top of the unit below. Safdie’s design was a success in that it accomplished his intention of intersecting public and private spaces. However, it did not attain his goals of affordable housing (each unit was very expensive to construct) or expand interest in prefabricated construction. In addition, demand for the apartments has resulted in high rent prices.
The complex is arranged in three stacked, pyramid-like forms attached by two smaller connectors. It subverts the common perception of Brutalism as a concrete hellscape. Sure, the forms are still very bare-bones and unfinished concrete, but there is an integration of nature that is very important to the building’s success. I would argue this is one of the better examples of Brutalist architecture.
Harbor Commission Building
1876 photo of the exterior. (McCord Stewart Museum)
This large, domed Second Empire building overlooks the old Port of Montreal and was built to house its administrative offices. It was built between 1874 and 1878 by architects Alexander Cowper Hutchinson and John William Hopkins. The Commissioners of the Port of Montreal used the building until 1933, as the Council of National Ports was established that year. The administrative offices still remained there, as an addition was built to the rear in 1958, but the port left entirely in the late 1960s. It was occupied by an importing company between 1972 and 1997.
After being purchased in 1997, the Harbor Commission Building was being restored, but it caught fire and some of the original wood and metal building components were destroyed. These parts were reconstructed and a new addition was built to the rear, both of which were completed in 2002.
Again, I normally would have gone into more depth on a building like this, but I was running out of time and camera battery. This tripartite, angled building is anchored by its central module with a tower on top. The windows are pedimented, and various other Second Empire details such as pilasters and cornices are present.
Detail of the entrance, with its segmentally arched transom window:
The two floors above, with their detailed ornamentation:
I like the dome and its octagonal shape. It’s odd how the pilasters and other features straddle the edges, though.
Another view from further away:
Cornice, mansard roof, and iron fencing along the roof:
Lachine Canal Silos
I love some nice industrial grime. This silo complex is more than a century old, but it has been extensively modified over the years. It is currently abandoned and covered in graffiti.
Port of Montreal Tower
This very contemporary structure, used as an observation deck/tourist attraction, was being built in 2020. I was more interested in contrasting its verticality with the other towering things in frame.
Robert Gillespie Warehouse I
Historic photo of the facade with its sign intact. (Vieux-Montreal)
I liked the ghost sign on this Greek Revival warehouse. It is one of three warehouses built in 1842 for Robert Gillespie by architect William Footner. The site is currently owned by the Montreal Museum of Archeology and History due to it being the site that Ville-Marie (the settlement that became Montreal) was founded on, and Louis-Hector de Calliere’s house, who was the late 17th-century governor of Montreal.
The pedimented roof, materiality, quoined corners, and stonework of the entryway make me think Greek Revival, along with its construction date of the 1840s. Otherwise, this is a pretty basic building.
Jean-Louis Baudry Building
This four-story Second Empire building was built in 1866 by architect Michel Laurent for Jean-Louis Baudry, who formerly owned a hotel on the site. It housed various businesses related to the nearby port for much of its lifetime.
Esprit-Genereux Warehouse & Store
This is actually the rear of an Italianate store facing Rue Saint-Paul West, but I was interested in its distinctive proto-Modernist character with massive windows and relative lack of ornamentation. The building was built in 1886, possibly by Perrault and Mesnard, and it was expanded with the addition of a floor around 1901. The Rue Commune facade, pictured above, was also altered in 1909 (what that entailed is unknown).
Here are some more buildings of a similar character along Rue Commune:
Montreal Clock Tower
This snazzy clock tower sits at the edge of the old Port of Montreal. It was designed by Paul Leclaire in the Beaux-Arts style, borrowing heavily from Baroque architecture, and it was completed in 1922. Intended both to commemorate the veterans of World War I and to hide grain elevators, it has been listed as a heritage building and is used as a museum today.
Montreal Biosphere
Another landmark of Expo 67, this one was also designed by a famous architect, Buckminster Fuller. It is an example of a geodesic dome, which is a circular dome composed of smaller shapes such as triangles. The dome was originally clad in acrylic, which burned away in a 1976 fire. It is used as a nature museum today.
Ricard Warehouse & Store + John Pratt Warehouse & Store
Again, I was only interested in these buildings due to their ghost signs, and this is also their less decorated rear facade. The rightmost building is the Ricard Warehouse and dates to 1878, while the John Pratt Warehouse next door was built in 1875.
William Watson Ogilvie Building
1891 photo of the building. (Vieux-Montreal)
This Romanesque Revival building dates to 1890 and was designed by Hutchison & Steele for William Watson Ogilvie, the owner of the Ogilvie Milling Company. Interestingly, it integrated a former warehouse next door into the design, which received a facade similar to the remainder of the building in 1903. The Ogilvie Milling Company departed in 1946, and it was used by government offices for a few years afterwards.
The upper floors were converted into apartments between 1967 and 1968. Eventually, these became short-term rentals, which would lead to the building’s demise. First, in 2018, the fire department was called for a small stovetop fire. This did not cause any damage, but the building owner was supposed to be fined for illegal short-term rentals, improper fire escape access, and broken smoke detectors, all by the fire department. However, it is likely these fines were never issued.
The building also housed AirBnBs inside these same apartments, which is illegal in this part of Old Montreal. However, Montreal’s mayor stated they have difficulty enforcing this law and must receive complaints first before taking action. On March 16, 2023, the building caught fire and completely burnt down, leaving only the stone exterior walls. Seven people died in the fire, six of which were occupying AirBnBs inside. It is believed to be arson by escaped murderer Denis Begin, though he was not formally charged. Following the fire, an amendment to the Tourist Accommodation Act was passed by the National Assembly of Quebec to require all short-term rentals be ensured to be legal by the companies that list them.
The Ogilvie Building remains a burnt shell today, supported by steel trusses and a chain-link shroud..
Customs Building
Another massive Beaux-Arts design I failed to do justice, this one was built between 1912 and 1916 as Montreal’s new customs house, as the Canadian government received ¾ of its revenue from customs duties at the time. It was designed by David Ewart, E. L. Horwood, and Alfred Hector Lapierre. Plans for expansion were quickly drawn up after construction, which included demolition of the buildings on the site in 1914, but after a brief period of work in 1919 it quickly stopped. The project was completed in the middle of the Great Depression by Thomas W. Fuller and Dalbe Viau, which maintains an identical exterior design but a much different interior layout.
Major renovations took place in the late 1970s, and it is still used as a government building today.
Grand Trunk Building
1906 photo of the exterior. (Vieux-Montreal)
The Grand Trunk Building was built for the railway of the same name by Richard A. Waite between 1899 and 1902 in the Beaux-Arts style. The company struggled in the late 1910s, and the Canadian government eventually acquired its assets and transferred them to the newly created Canadian National Railroad in 1923. Canadian National sold the building in 1961, and it has since been occupied by the Quebec government.
Dominion Block
1873 engraving of the Dominion Block, annotations are not my own. (Vieux-Montreal)
The Dominion Block consists of three connected warehouses and stores built in 1867 for three Irish merchants. The whole building was designed in the Second Empire style by brothers Cyrus Pole Thomas and William Tutin Thomas. The elaborate mansard roof was demolished after a 1901 fire, and it has been crowned by its cornice alone since.
Wilson Chambers Building
This technically isn’t part of Old Montreal, but its Second Empire character makes it belong there in my heart. It was designed by Richard C. Windeyer and completed in 1869. What’s interesting to me are its pointed arches--these are a Gothic feature and are rarely included on classically-styled architecture.
Let’s finish with some other random photos that don’t depict any one building in particular. This is Rue Saint-Paul a few blocks south of Place Jacques-Cartier, which has been converted to a pedestrian walkway and absolutely jam-packed with people.
Place Royale, Notre-Dame, Aldred Building:
This entire series of Montreal articles has taken me almost two months to write and includes almost 700 (689, but I didn’t use every single one) photos. To say a weight has been lifted off my back is a bit of an understatement. Thanks for reading, and stay tuned for Toronto next!
Sources:
https://www.vieux.montreal.qc.ca/inventaire/fiches/secteur.php?sec=j
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Habitat_67
https://www.pc.gc.ca/apps/dfhd/page_fhbro_eng.aspx?id=7469
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