a house well-hidden

 65 Cartier (eventually renumbered 63) was built on the NE corner of MacLaren c. 1888 for Dr. Alfred Selwyn, then-Director of the Geological Survey of Canada. Goad 1912 (sheet 51)hows the original configuration of the building. The footprint was roughly doubled with by an eastern extension some time before 1928, per aerial photos. This structure apparently functions as a separate address, 103 MacLaren.

As you can see, the house is hidden by a screen of trees (added green on the Goad sheet) on the south and west sides, making it a bitch to photograph.

photo 2026-02-28, iPhone 15 Pro

155 MacLaren, Golden Triangle

 155 MacLaren appears newly-built on Goad's 1888 (amended) sheet #52 as "181 155," a clear match for the present structure. Directory listings seem to confirm construction c. 1888.

photo 2028-02-28, IPhone 15 Pro

The Wentworth Plaza North

The original Wentworth Plaza (South, extant), at 258 Lisgar, opened in the spring of 1962. The north section, pictured below, opened in the fall of 1964 and was given a 50-unit addition to its west end in 1966.

Ottawa Citizen, 1965-03-12 p59 — photo (rear elevation) 2023-11-19 iPhone 15 Pro

Tenders for Limestone, 1900

 Re "toise":  Historical Usage: It was commonly used in early Canadian land surveys and building contracts before the adoption of the imperial system. In Montreal, a toise of masonry was often 72 French feet, while in Ottawa and Kingston, it was often calculated as 54 cubic feet, though these values could vary. It is now a strictly historical unit, primarily found in archival documents related to construction in Eastern Canada. See also Sir Henry Newell Bate.

Ottawa Journal 1900-03-02 p2

 

a sudden snow squall

 A "pandemic pup" takes stock of the weather from the balcony of his humans' condo unit at 475 Laurier W. at Bay (built 1984.) It was his first winter.

photo 2021-02-22, SONY DSC-RX100

409-411 Queen Street, Cathedral Hill

 Our photo shows the rear of a striking mass of domestic architecture clinging to the side of the limestone bluff at the west end of Sparks Street. A draping of snow obscures the fact that these are actually two houses, twins built c. 1897, facing onto Queen Street. They stand directly east of Christ Church Cathedral, itself completed in 1873. Goad's sheet 43, 1912 (detail) gives us an idea of their relative positions.

The house at 412 Sparks was demolished in the 1990s creating an L-shaped parking space to the east of the Cathedral. That space was filled (after I took my picture) by a high-rise tower, a retirement residence called the Vista on Sparks — in effect, the view in the photo no longer exists.

photo 2021-02-20, SONY DSC-RX100

208 Bank Street

 This incongruous miniature bungalow occupies a small parking lot just west of Bank Street on Nepean. How or when it came to be there, I have no idea. Aerial photos show it at least as far back as 1965, perhaps even 1958. For the last few years it has housed a Taco shop, sensibly called "Taco Lot," though Google now describes it as "permanently closed."

278 O'Connor

 Built c. 1890, originally home to the Rev. Wm. Moore D.D., we see 278 O'Connor being reduced to the facade that now stands in front of a low-rise apartment block, the EVO, (280. O'Connor) completed in 2023.

photo 2021-05-01, SONY DSC-RX100

Kiddytown closed, Bank Street

Bank Street in decline, February 2021 — the closure of Kiddytown at 157 Bank coincided with the COVID pandemic. The store opened c. 1949-1950. There would be four Ottawa locations in total — the flagship Rideau Street shop (across from the Chateau Laurier) with its colourful sign overhanging the sidewalk was a local landmark.

photo 2021-02-21, SONY DSC RX100

Testing ...

This is a test.

35-37 Argyle, Golden Triangle, brick-veneer on wood per Goad 1912, built as a rental double between 1901 and 1906. Literally built on limestone, note the foundation.

photo 2025-12-19, iPhone 15 Pro