What is the iconic style of your city?

[niwell]

^I didn't want to make a blanket statement that it was an Alberta thing as I wasn't sure, but that is interesting! I've only really ever seen it in Calgary and Edmonton, but have more experience in those cities than anywhere else in the west.

[kool maudit]

the hamilton rowhouses are very british. it could be liverpool.

[kwoldtimer]

Originally Posted by kool maudit

the hamilton rowhouses are very british. it could be liverpool.

I thought the first pic of (1920s?) houses looked very typical of this part of Southern Ontario, although a row that size of nearly identical houses packed that closely together is not something you'd see in the smaller towns and cities.

[flar]

Originally Posted by kwoldtimer

I thought the first pic of (1920s?) houses looked very typical of this part of Southern Ontario, although a row that size of nearly identical houses packed that closely together is not something you'd see in the smaller towns and cities.

That's what distinguishes the Hamilton ones, they tend to be built in clusters like that. They are circa 1905-1915.

[niwell]

The rows of identical houses in Hamilton seem to indicate a large amount of speculative building. Or possibly housing developed by companies. It's actually quite rare in Toronto to find too many identical buildings next to one another - there was far too much owner built housing stock.

[flar]

Originally Posted by niwell

The rows of identical houses in Hamilton seem to indicate a large amount of speculative building. Or possibly housing developed by companies. It's actually quite rare in Toronto to find too many identical buildings next to one another - there was far too much owner built housing stock.

It's speculative housing. Contrary to popular belief, there is no company housing in Hamilton. An interesting (but perhaps a bit dense) read on the subject: http://www.mqup.ca/housing-the-north...0773508255.php

[flar]

Originally Posted by SkahHigh

I actually love these common Toronto houses, dunno why.


http://ilovetoronto.com/images/2013/...onto-Homes.jpg

This is classic Edwardian housing for the professional and middle classes. It's the high end version of those plain working class 2.5 storey Hamilton houses. You see the exact same housing throughout Ontario with significant concentrations Hamilton and Ottawa.

Originally Posted by esquire

Unless I am unaware of a huge collection of these somewhere around here, I'll say that that style is extremely uncommon in Winnipeg... it must be an Alberta thing. I certainly saw a lot of it in older parts of Edmonton when I lived there.

There are lots of houses like that in Winnipeg, in the "newer" parts of Winnipeg's grid. They might not have the round overhang, but some of the more unique ones would have streamline moderne features like rounded corner windows. I walked from the west end out by the airport to downtown and you see these little stucco houses at the extreme west, evolving into dense rows of the 2.5 story wooden equivalents of those Hamilton houses I posted.

[Drybrain]

Originally Posted by esquire

Unless I am unaware of a huge collection of these somewhere around here, I'll say that that style is extremely uncommon in Winnipeg... it must be an Alberta thing. I certainly saw a lot of it in older parts of Edmonton when I lived there.

Yeah, I think it's more Alberta/Saskatchewan.

I'm not sure about these infill houses Niwell posted though—they're probably no denser then what they replaced, and kind of look like the standard vinyl/faux-stone stuff going up in the Calgary burbs, the only (though significant) difference being that they don't have an attached garage, due to the prevalence of rear laneways.

But come to think of it, those foam architectural details, stucco, and fake Formastone decorative cladding IS almost the new architectural vernacular in Calgary. It's everywhere from brand-new subdivisions to the inner city.

Like this stuff:

[flar]

This is about all I have of the little stucco houses in Winnipeg:

[flar]

In addition to the gambrel roofs Harls posted, Ottawa has quite a few of these Quebec style flats built with an Ontario flair:

[esquire]

Originally Posted by flar

This is about all I have of the little stucco houses in Winnipeg:

Good pick. While tyndall stone is the distinguishing style of the large public buildings, stucco houses like those ones can be found in almost any corner of the city that went up from, oh, say WWI to Expo 67.

[SignalHillHiker]

Stucco confused the hell out of me when I first moved there. I thought it was the flame-retardant foam they spray before putting the clapboard on.

It still looks... unfinished... to me, despite years of experience around such homes now.

It's illegal here (even in non-heritage areas) but there have been at least two houses with it that slipped through the cracks. One on Patrick Street and one on Old Topsail Road.

[esquire]

Originally Posted by SignalHillHiker

It's illegal here (even in non-heritage areas) but there have been at least two houses with it that slipped through the cracks. One on Patrick Street and one on Old Topsail Road.

Consider yourselves lucky... I never really thought of it as an attractive style. I don't understand why it became so common here as opposed to the other typical materials.

[SignalHillHiker]

In Winnipeg, they said it was the only material that could stand up to the extreme cold and extreme heat without cracking. But lots of houses had cracked stucco.

And, really... who bothers with climate-appropriate materials? We're mild and damp. The only thing that could make wood even less appropriate for this city would be if we had termites.

[Xelebes]

Originally Posted by flar

There are lots of houses like that in Winnipeg, in the "newer" parts of Winnipeg's grid. They might not have the round overhang, but some of the more unique ones would have streamline moderne features like rounded corner windows. I walked from the west end out by the airport to downtown and you see these little stucco houses at the extreme west, evolving into dense rows of the 2.5 story wooden equivalents of those Hamilton houses I posted.

I personally call those small houses from the 20s through to the early 40s "Winnipeg Houses." Learning that the quartz-stucco is much rarer feature in Winnipeg is interesting. The broad houses on big lots from the late 40s to the early 60s are "Prairie Houses."

One of the annoying things about stucco is that it doesn't develop a patina like other materials.

[Denscity]

Stucco with little bits of glass can be found here as well. Popular in the 60s it seems.
As for Vancouver's iconic style its one of the few cities with its own tower style. Its the point tower of green glass on top of a 3 storey or so podium. This style has been copied in many cities across North America and overseas as well. It has also spawned the term "Vancouverism".

[kwoldtimer]

Originally Posted by flar

This is classic Edwardian housing for the professional and middle classes. It's the high end version of those plain working class 2.5 storey Hamilton houses. You see the exact same housing throughout Ontario with significant concentrations Hamilton and Ottawa.

.....

Comparable homes in K-W would be detached. I couldn't say that there are no duplexes of that period and scale in town, but they would be pretty rare.

[kwoldtimer]

Originally Posted by flar

This is about all I have of the little stucco houses in Winnipeg:

Late 1940s - early 1950s?

[ciudad_del_norte]

^ Seems about right to me. In Edmonton I've always heard that style of housing referred to as war time housing...which actually means right-after-the-war time housing.

Seeing a lot of them replaced with semi-detached infill these days though. They are usually in neighbourhoods central enough, with mature street trees to be desirable for many, but far enough that they don't have the price point of the older and typicaly larger four square or craftsman style housing in the early 20th century edmonton neigbhourhoods (the few that still exist).

[Wooster]

Large sandstone buildings such as this school are certainly an iconic element Calgary's architecture:



Overall though, Calgary's architecture can be described as rather eclectic and evolving. Early very interesting craftsmen homes, mid century bungalows, modern single and duplex infill houses (replacing the mid-century bungalows in large numbers), large corporate towers, and recently a collision of Toronto and Vancouver architects and developers building high rise residential in this market. As well as the odd Starchitect.