Discovering Stewart Hall: an Architectural Splendor Beyond Montreal’S Cityscape

Discovering Stewart Hall: An Architectural Splendor Beyond Montreal’s Cityscape Abstract: Tucked away in the West Island, Stewart Hall is a significant attribute to the color and charm of Montreal’s architectural mosaic. Not only a historic building and cultural landmark, its unique fusion of styles exemplifies the distinct vernacular that has long characterized Canadian architecture. The following article will uncover a building often overlooked, as so many of them are, that has been and remains today a momentous piece of our national heritage and identity. Downtown Montreal’s cityscape, with its montage of beautiful traditional styles, chic modern designs, contemporary urban innovations, and charming ethnic residential communities, often overshadows the colorful architectural landscape of its satellite suburban neighborhoods. Stewart Hall is one of many buildings that have been long overlooked in the study of Montreal’s canonical architecture. Neatly tucked away in the West Island just east of Pointe Claire Village, Stewart Hall is the product of a complicated history and stands as a testament to the ever- changing fusion of styles that distinguishes Canadian architecture. Originally farming country, by the late nineteenth century Pointe Claire had become a “patchwork property”1 having been subdivided and sold off in fragments over the previous two centuries. Although turnover was rare as property was passed through the generations within a family, Farm 160 was sold to Thomas Crane in 1890. Soon after purchase, Crane built a typical country house on his farmland christened “The Knoll” (see figure 1). It embodied ‘standard’ masonry construction and was reminiscent of the reemerging picturesque Victorian style, 1 Brian Matthews, (Brochure, 1977) 1. combining wood and stone, conical roofs, multiple verandas, small and drafty rooms, and many fireplaces. It nevertheless retained a modest, primitive appearance.2 In 1901, Hugh Andrew Allan, President of the Allan Steamship Line, bought the country estate as a summer house along with some adjacent land and was granted permission to extend his property two hundred feet beyond the retaining wall into Lac Saint Louis.3 The following decade unfortunately brought considerable financial strain to his enterprise and Allan was forced to sell. Lt. Colonel Thomas McLean purchased the property from the lakefront to the 2-20 Highway,4 and in 1913 demolished The Knoll except for the foundation wall in the basement5 to build a suitable lakeside family home. He hired the reputable Scottish born architect, F.R. Findlay, whose previous works included the Westmont Public Library and City Hall as well as the Daniel Strand and Ogilvy Mansions. The rebuilding began in 1916 and was completed three years later, now christened Mull Hall. With the advent of his enduring tension with the community, combined with his wife’s death, an increase in travel, and the outbreak of the Second World War, McLean would eventually decide to sell in 1940 to the Brothers of the Order of the Holy Cross as farmland.6 The Brothers, however, were forced to sell portions of the land to diminish the overall cost of upkeep and, in the aftermath of the Second World War, the financial burden was too great. The property and Mull Hall were once again put on the market in 1958. The Lakefield Development Corporation, who was building detached housing in the neighboring community, 2 Dominic Mignogna, “Stewart Hall, Point-Claire,” (Master’s diss., McGill University, 1968), 2. 3 Guy Pinard, “La Maison Charles Wesley MacLean,” La Press. January 06, 1991, sec. H 4 D. Decker, “Stuart Hall,” (Master’s diss., McGill University, 1988), 2. 5 Dominic Mignogna, “Stewart Hall, Point-Claire,” 3. 6 Brian Matthews, 5. submitted a proposal to erect waterfront apartment buildings.7 The Stewart Family of the prosperous Stewart Tobacco Company, living in a nearby summer house, were outraged by this proposal and bought the Knoll with 6.6 acres of adjoining land for an undisclosed amount8 and subsequently sold it to the City of Pointe Claire for a total sum of one dollar on the condition that it would remain a “park in perpetuity.”9 There was no mention as to the fate of Mull Hall. The town of Pointe Claire established a Committee to decide on the use of the structure and the subsequent renovations that would be required. They resolved to fulfill the need for a community centre to house various groups and activities and, with the help of two Montreal architects, committee members and residents of Pointe Claire: Guy Gerin-Lajoie and R. Marshall, they generated a proposal for its refurbishment.10 After difficulty getting the financing for the $300,000 needed (for which May Beatrice Stewart would eventually fund the difference between the total sum and the city grant), the plan was approved and construction began in early 1962.11 On February 14th, 1963, the former Governor General George Vanier announced the official opening of Stewart Hall, named for its benefactors, which remains today an active community centre in Pointe Claire. Stewart Hall sits majestically atop an extensive elegant and orderly landscaped property that slopes downwards towards a stone retaining wall and beyond it, Lac Saint Louis (see figures 2a and 2b). While part of a wealthy and historic neighborhood that reflects the various prominent styles of architecture (from neo-Georgian and cottage vernacular to Quebec regionalism) the house is far removed from any of its neighbors giving it a very solitary, distinctive and 7 D. Decker, “Stuart Hall,” 3. 8 Ibid. 4. 9 Louise Dugas, “Construit a prix fort, puis donné pour un dollar,” La Press, August 18, 1984. 10 D. Decker, “Stuart Hall,” 5. 11 Ibid., 6. hierarchical appearance. Although the building’s sheer size may seem to dominate the site, it was constructed to complement and reinforce the attributes of its lakefront position and beautiful natural setting. The landscape remains unchanged.12 Natural elements such as trees and shrubbery are sparse, neatly situated and maintained from up and around the house, along the interconnecting walking paths and accompanying benches right down to the lake, they stress and exaggerate the property’s site lines towards the waterfront. An entirely mason structure, Stewart Hall encloses two stories as well as a basement and attic and its façade is built entirely of original square-cut, rustic limestone from local quarries arranged at random13 giving it both a textured and heavy medieval appearance (see figure 3). Originally intended as a half scale model of a Scottish Manor House on Mull Isle, Scotland per the request of its commissioner McLean, Stewart Hall (then Mull Hall) is more reminiscent of seigniorial manors14 and combines characteristics of the Scottish castle with medieval and classic elements.15 Rectangular in plan (218ft. long by 58.5ft. deep and 78.5 ft high), the marked regularity of its northern entrance façade is disrupted by an octagonal end bay on either end of the building as well as the offset protruding bay of its grand portico entrance (see figure 4). Composed of a shallow hipped roof supported by four pilaster clusters, it also bears two decorative Tuscan columns; this classical detail reflects the influence of the American neo-classical revival.16 The otherwise symmetrical entrance façade is Palladian in spirit, manifesting a balanced arrangement of simple lead frame windows in two rows, indented balconies, and a central crowning gable 12 Ibid., 3. 13 Guy Pinard, “La Maison Charles Wesley MacLean.” 14 Brian Matthews, 6. 15 Dominic Mignogna, “Stewart Hall, Point-Claire,” 4. 16 Ibid., 5. with a small semi-circular window.17 The only remarkable ornament is the sheer mortar detail and masonry handicraft.18 A new copper roof now replaces the original shingled slate one. Tall chimneys and hipped dormer windows make for an interestingly irregular skyline. The rear façade is composed of a large veranda that extends the entire length of the building to take full advantage of the sunlight and view (see figure 5). Supported by an arcade of pilasters and Tuscan columns, the roof over the veranda doubles as a terrace. These neo-classic elements are present again in the “dentil-like”19 treatment of the underside of the cornice that extends around the entire building as decorative motif. The south facing rooftop has fewer protruding elements. The East wall facade is simple in fashion, embellished with semi-circular arches. The West wall formerly extended into a solarium and glass conservatory20 that was destroyed in a fire; it has since become an extension of the veranda. The interior plan is simple; there is little open space, every area is partitioned and enclosed. The rooms run along a longitudinal axis connected by a narrow hallway, only interrupted by the entrance containing the central stair leading to the second floor, attic and basement. The overall design is said to have reflected the taste of McLean’s first wife, Martha Harris Fulford, heiress to the fortune of a wealthy pharmaceutical company.21 Ornament is modest, generally displayed by an opulent materiality throughout the house. There is an extensive use of rich dark wood paneling on the walls and ceilings, elaborate wood carvings around the fireplaces and on the balustrades,22 wood and tile floors, decorative semi-circular arches over entrance ways, pilasters “trimming the walls,” and wood with black leather 17 D. Decker, “Stuart Hall,” 4. 18 Dominic Mignogna, “Stewart Hall, Point-Claire,” 4. 19 Ibid., 6. 20 Guy Pinard, “La Maison Charles Wesley MacLean.” 21 Louise Dugas, “Construit a prix fort, puis donné pour un dollar.” 22 Guy Pinard, “La Maison Charles Wesley MacLean.” furniture.23 Although the house contains a total of thirty-five rooms, only the drawing, dining, board, and sitting rooms remain in their original condition (see figure 6a and b).24 The later addition of exposed brickwork and untreated wood contribute to its current more rustic rather than polished interior look.

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