August 2025.
Rue Notre-Dame in this area of Old Montreal has interesting Second Empire architecture and other Victorian-era styles. However, unlike the lofty, lavish banks and insurance companies of Rue Saint-Jacques, the building typologies seen here are smaller stores and warehouses.
Moss Building
This 1862 Second Empire building was designed by John James Brown. It’s kind of unusually designed for the style, lacking columns or normal classical ornamentation. However, it has definitely been altered over the years, including the addition of a fourth floor in 1904 and a more modern base.
Shaw Building
Another Second Empire building dating to 1869, this one is in better condition and a more typical example of the style. It was designed by John William Hopkins. The original cast-iron facade on the base is intact, and the floors above have arched windows interspersed with Corinthian pilasters.
Peter Redpath Building
The Peter Redpath Building is named after its owner and architect, who was a businessman that owned a sugar refinery on the Lachine Canal. It was completed in 1881. An early tenant was the Hudson’s Bay Company, who had their main offices inside from 1882 to 1891. This building is characterized by its mansard roof and ornamentation carved into the masonry walls.
Old Sun Life Building
1903 engraving of the Old Sun Life Building. (Vieux-Montreal)
The Old Sun Life Building has a more extensive history than its neighbors. It was built for insurance company Sun Life, who held an architectural competition in 1889 for its design. Architect Robert Findlay won with his eclectic five-story design combining Richardsonian Romanesque, Chateauesque, and Renaissance Revival characteristics, and its sculptures were carved by Henry Beaumont. Its construction took place between 1890 and 1891.
Sun Life originally used two floors of the building, while other tenants included the Union Bank on the first floor and accounting firm Philip S. Ross and Sons. At the end of the 19th century, Sun Life purchased the neighboring Waddell Building and one other, but despite the increase in office space, they relocated southwest to the current Sun Life Building in 1918. However, Sun Life still used the building until the 1930s, and they finally sold it in 1946.
The Old Sun Life Building remained an office building through the following decades. In 1978, a major fire struck the building, which destroyed much of the interior. However, it was restored by developers that purchased it in 1981. It is still used as an office building today.
Oblique view of the building:
The building is very asymmetrical and has many picturesque characteristics typical of Richardsonian Romanesque and Chateauesque architecture, such as the towers and bay windows. However, the building uses Renaissance ornamentation. Zoomed in on the tower, some of these details become apparent, such as the classical pilasters, cornice, and balustrade:
The tower’s base at the corner has some pretty detailed ornamentation, with lots of naturalistic motifs filling in otherwise blank space. The column capitals each have a mascaron.
Entrance detail:
The contrasting stone shafts are pretty cool, and I like the reliefs of the building’s original tenant.
Waddell Building/Sun Life Annex
1885 view of the Waddell Building. (McCord Stewart Museum)
The Waddell Building is an interesting example of High Victorian Gothic architecture. It was completed in 1884 by John William Hopkins and his son Edward for railway businessman Samuel Waddell. The Rue Notre-Dame portion was used by the Mutual Life Insurance Company and the London Assurance Company, while the Rue Saint-Jean face included Canada Bell from 1885 to 1897.
Sun Life, as mentioned before, purchased the Waddell Building in 1897. They used a good chunk of the interior until 1918, when they moved to their new building, though they owned it until 1946. Also like the Old Sun Life Building next door, it caught fire and was almost destroyed completely. It was restored between 1981 and 1982 and remains an office building today.
Oblique view:
This was a tough one for me to pinpoint stylistically, but the polychromy (brick versus stone lintels and details) and ornamentation is definitely High Victorian Gothic.
The entrance, with its detailed pilasters and keystones:
Detail of the decorative gable atop the chamfered corner:
The Rue Notre-Dame facade:
Every single window is a different size and shape. Pretty interesting.
A similar gable form on the edge, next to the Old Sun Life Building:
Compressed, abstract view of the Rue Saint-Jean facade:
I’ve seen great photos of this facade online, but those were taken before the new Laurence condos were built on the formerly vacant lot to the north. I did get the top of the entrance portal, which was engraved with “Sun Life Building Annex” when they moved in:
Laurence Condos
This very glassy, very contemporary apartment building was completed in late 2024 or early 2025. I couldn’t find any other info, but I’m sure the architect’s website spouts some nonsense about it relating to the historic surroundings in “an abstract, contemporary manner.”
Charles Wilson Boutique & Warehouse
A combined warehouse and commercial building, this Second Empire design was built for merchant and former mayor Charles Wilson by architect Michel Laurent in 1866. Its original occupants were hatter William Samuel, who used one of the first-floor shops and some warehouse space above, and trunk manufacturers Edward Perry & Co., which used the remainder of the building. Charles Wilson died in 1877, but his descendants owned the building until 1946.
A fifth floor (the mansard roof) was added to the Charles Wilson Warehouse before 1909, and it later was connected to the neighboring Thomas Philippe Barron Warehouse around 1960. The two were converted into a mixed-use space known as Les Cours Notre-Dame in the 1980s, which is probably when the new base dates to:
Thomas Philippe Barron Warehouse & Shop
Similar to the neighboring Charles Wilson Warehouse, this building combines two different spaces for its commercial tenants, but it is expressed as two identical halves. It was also completed in 1866 by John Atkinson. Barron and his family owned the building until 1949, when it and the Charles Wilson Warehouse were sold to Dawson Brothers Stationery, which combined the two around 1960. Again, it was renovated into Les Cours Notre-Dame as well.
Allebone Building
This is another less common style represented in Montreal--Stripped Classicism. The original building dates to 1906, but its facade is the result of a facadectomy between 1952 and 1953 by architect David Shennan, which modified the entrance layout and aesthetics.
Next door is a warehouse dating to 1836, but I was more interested in the vintage neon sign, apparently:
231-233 Rue Notre-Dame West
Given the less crazy ornamentation and rectangular windows, I’d say this is an Italianate building, as opposed to the more abundant Second Empire style in Old Montreal. It dates to 1864 and was designed by John William Hopkins as a combined warehouse and store.
British Empire/Exchange Bank Building
1876 view of the building. (Vieux-Montreal)
The British Empire Building is a notable Second Empire building in that it is highly intact architecturally. It was built for the Exchange Bank of Canada in 1874 by John William Hopkins. The bank used the ground floor, while offices above were leased to 20-25 different tenants. The Exchange Bank went bankrupt in 1884, and they sold it to the British Empire Mutual Life Assurance Co., which conducted a few renovations inside. It then merged with a different insurance company to form the Pelican and British Empire Life Office in 1903, and more interior renovations occurred in 1905 by Hutchison & Wood. The building was sold again to Phoenix Insurance Company in 1909, which owned it until 1947.
More recently, a restoration occurred in the 1990s, and the British Empire Building remains an office building today.
View of the facade today:
Lots of different window shapes on the Rue Notre-Dame facade:
Note the stacked orders and pilasters, too. An interesting fact is the iron window frames, doors, and columns are original, which is very rare for a 150-year-old building.
Detail of the arched windows on the top two floors:
Thomas Jenkins Warehouse
Two different views of the building in 1891. (Vieux-Montreal)
The Thomas Jenkins Warehouse is actually three individual buildings, which were built for Thomas Jenkins by architect George Browne and completed in 1867. Early tenants were largely manufacturing-related, but the Commercial Union Assurance Company used it as an office building beginning in 1886. Its uses have changed greatly over the years, including restaurants, offices, and commercial space.
1998 photo of the buildings, depicting their shoddy condition at the time. (Vieux-Montreal)
By the 1990s, the warehouse was in poor repair, with missing windows, broken cornices, and heavily altered storefronts. It was restored that decade and is in much better condition today.
I’m unsure why the leftmost unit has a different storefront and windows.
Sulpicians Building III
1905 view of the building. (Vieux-Montreal)
This is the third of three buildings along Rue Saint-Francois-Xavier by the Sulpicians, whose seminary is located next door. It was built in 1874 and housed various insurance companies and architects, being characterized by their long periods of occupancy (one concierge stayed 60 years). Today, the first floor is a restaurant, and the floors above are offices leased out to design companies. The original mansard roof has been replaced with a vertical, modern floor meant to resemble it.
Next, we’ll be returning to Rue Saint-Pierre and eastward from there.
Sources:
https://www.vieux.montreal.qc.ca/inventaire/fiches/secteur.php?sec=m
https://www.vieux.montreal.qc.ca/inventaire/fiches/secteur.php?sec=n
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