building small houses in postwar canada: architects, homeowners and bureaucratic ideals, 1947 ...

327 Pages·2012·37.39 MB·English

BUILDING SMALL HOUSES IN POSTWAR CANADA:
ARCHITECTS, HOMEOWNERS AND BUREAUCRATIC
IDEALS, 1947-1974

Ioana Teodorescu
School of Architecture
McGill University, Montreal

August 2012

A thesis submitted to McGill University in partial fulfillment of the requirements
of the degree of Doctor of Philosophy

© Ioana Teodorescu, 2012

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Table of Contents

List of illustrations v
Abstract x
Résumé xi
Acknowledgements xii

Introduction 1
Context and literature review 6
Sources and methodology 31
Dissertation structure 42

Prologue:
First Attempts. The 1947 architectural competition and plan catalogue 45

Chapter 1: Confident advisers, puzzled professionals 55
The open-deadline competition 55
Payments 65
Stakeholders in the Small House Design Scheme 72
Architect leaders at CMHC: their beliefs and actions 72
Professional architects: their designs and reactions to the Scheme 95
Hierarchy 95
The debate on house-types, imaginary lots and regionalism 103
Revenue from catalogue plans 114
The Committee’s critique 117
Different kinds of criticism and their results 123
Decline of the Scheme 127

Chapter 2: Catalogue Plans for ‘A House to Hug the Ground’ 134
Graphic presentation of the catalogues 139
Imagining the house in the neighbourhood 147
Functional aspects in the catalogue plans 153

Chapter 3: Happy and Educated Clients 174
From farm fields to individual home lots 174
Land and House relationship 180
Choosing a House Design: house type, decision-making, networking 183
Building the house: help from builders, relatives, CMHC publications 193
Changes to façades and impact on interiors 199
The space inside 202

Conclusion 222

Appendixes 232
Bibliography 259
Figures 270

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LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS

Figure 1 – Typical page of first plan catalogue 67 Homes for Canadians (Ottawa: CMHC 1947)
Figure 2 – Architect’s renderings of 1947 Cape Cod models. Barbara Kelly, Expanding the
American Dream: Building and Rebuilding Levittown (Albany: State University of New York
Press, 1993), 76
Figure 3 – 1947 architectural competition, first prize Ontario region, architect E.C.S. Cox,
Islington, ON. 67 Homes for Canadians (Ottawa: CMHC 1947)
Figure 4 – 1947 architectural competition, first prize Prairie region, architect Andrew Chomick,
Winnipeg, MB. 67 Homes for Canadians (Ottawa: CMHC 1947)
Figure 5 – Typical submission sketch. Author: Ron Maltby (Edmonton, AB), September 1965.
RG56, Accession 1987-88/056, File 104-19-1-O, Architects under O
Figure 6 – Working drawings for design 615/1965, architect Ralph Goldman (Toronto, ON).
Courtesy of: Gerald Soiferman
Figure 7 – An example of a pencil drawing reproduction on ‘chronoflex’ sheet. RG56, Accession
1987-88/056, File 104-19-1-P, Architects under P
Figure 8 – Calculation of royalties, undated and unsigned note. RG56, Accession 1987-88/056,
Box 19, File 104-19-3, Royalties
Figure 9a – Considerations of lot and community. Thirty Keys to Good House Construction,
(Ottawa: CMHC, 1952), 6-7
Figure 9b – “Avoid building on swampy ground”. Choosing a House Design (Ottawa: CMHC,
1956), 4
Figure 10 – Visual harmony on a street. Principles of Small House Design (Ottawa: CMHC, ca.
1956-57). 7
Figure 11 – Street bird’s eye perspective for Lakeshore Homes Ltd, Architect Ray Affleck, 1952.
Canadian Architectural Archives, University of Calgary, Accession 15A/77.62, ID 015-010,
Project AFF 103
Figure 12 – House grouping from British Housing Manual 1949 and Picton, ON, 1950. Housing
Design (Ottawa, CMHC, 1952-53), 28
Figure 13 – Radburn, NJ dead-end street versus Wildwood, Winnipeg, MB, loop street. Housing
Design (Ottawa, CMHC, 1952-53), 5
Figure 14a – Design 2317, architect Sam Gitterman (Ottawa). Small House Designs (Ottawa:
CMHC, 1962)
Figure 14b – Mark IV model built in Calgary, February 1962, architect Sam Gitterman (Ottawa).
National Archives, Samuel Gitterman Fonds, Box 05114
Figure 15 – CMHC newspaper ad to call for designs. RG 56, Accession 1987-88/056 File 104-19-
1-L Architects under L
Figure 16 – Design 2307, architects Papineau, Gerin-Lajoie and LeBlanc (Montreal, QC). Small
House Designs (Ottawa: CMHC, 1968)
Figures 17a-b – Individual houses designed in the 1960s by Papineau, Gerin-Lajoie and LeBlanc
in the suburb of Brossard, Montreal, photographed in 2006. Courtesy of Louis-Joseph Papineau
Figure 18 – Design 615, architect Ralph Goldman (Toronto, ON).Small House Designs (Ottawa:
CMHC, 1972)
Figure 19a – Design 256, architect Paul Meschino (Toronto, ON). Small House Designs (Ottawa:
CMHC, 1968)
Figure 19b – Design 2303, architect Michael Dixon (Ottawa). Small House Designs (Ottawa:
CMHC, 1962)
Figure 20a-b-c – Sketch proposal and photo of screen wall in manufacturer’s brochure submitted
by James F. Gilmour (Vancouver, BC). RG 56, Accession 1987-88/056, Box 18, File 104-19-1-G
(part 1), Architects under G
Figure 21 – Plan for a 4 bedroom house submitted by architect Gilles Coté (Quebec, QC) in 1961
and rejected by the Plan Selection Committee. RG 56, Accession 1987-88/056, Box 17, File 104-
19-1-C (part 1), Architects under C
Figure 22a – Designs 50-4 with edits in hand-written notes. Small House Designs: Bungalows
(Ottawa: CMHC, 1950)
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Figure 22b – Design 50-19 with edits in hand-written notes. Small House Designs: Bungalows
(Ottawa: CMHC, 1950)
Figure 23a – Design 49-41 (bird’s-eye view). Small House Designs: One-and-a-Half Storey
(Ottawa: CMHC, 1949)
Figure 23b – Design 50-12 (eye-level perspective). Small House Designs: Bungalows (Ottawa:
CMHC, 1950)
Figure 23c – Design 49-66 (front elevation). Small House Designs: Two Storey (Ottawa: CMHC,
1950)
Figure 24 – Typical page layout for Small House Designs: Bungalows (Ottawa: CMHC, 1952)
Figure 25 – “How the read floor plan sketches”. Small House Designs (Ottawa: CMHC, 1954)
Figure 26 – “Floor Plan Symbols”. Small House Designs (Ottawa: CMHC, 1954)
Figure 27 – Model cross-sections through typical house types. Small House Designs (Ottawa:
CMHC, 1957)
Figure 28 – Typical page layout for Small House Designs (Ottawa: CMHC, 1957)
Figure 29 – Plan symbols for rooms. Small House Designs (Ottawa: CMHC, 1968)
Figure 30 – Colour schemes in Canadian Homes & Gardens (May 1952)
Figure 31 – ALCAN advertisement in Canadian Homes & Gardens (July 1962)
Figure 32 – Bad and Good façade colours. Source: Canadian Homes & Gardens (May 1952)
Figure 33a – Factors influencing house planning and positioning. Principles of Small House
Design (Ottawa: CMHC, 1957), 11
Figure 33b – Site plan for house designed by Ray Affleck for Mr. & Mrs. D. Bews of Senneville,
QC (1957). Canadian Architectural Archives, University of Calgary, Accession 15A/77.62, ID
015-010, Project AFF 103
Figure 34 – Design 231 by unknown architect in the CMHC Architectural Department. Small
House Designs (Ottawa: CMHC, 1972)
Figure 35 1-4 – Different orientation for design 231, depending on the purchased lot. Drawing by
author
Figure 36 – House plans: modern versus traditional, sketch by architect Alexander Klein.
Catherine Bauer, Modern Housing (Boston and New York: Riverside Press Cambridge, 1934), 203
Figure 37 – Maslow’s hierarchy of needs. Wikipedia Encyclopedia, retrieved February 15, 2012
Figure 38a – Design 47-4. 67 Homes for Canadians (Ottawa: CMHC, 1947)
Figure 38b – Design 47-11. 67 Homes for Canadians (Ottawa: CMHC, 1947)
Figure 39 – Design 47-23. 67 Homes for Canadians (Ottawa: CMHC, 1947)
Figure 40 – Design 2314, architect R. Whiteley (Don Mills, ON). Small House Designs (Ottawa,
CMHC:, 1962)
Figure 41 – Design 801, architect Earle Ingram (Ottawa). Small House Designs (Ottawa: CMHC,
1957)
Figure 42 – Three alternative layouts for key activities within the home proposed by the Dudley
Committee. Nicholas Bullock, Building the Post-war World: Modern Architecture and
Reconstruction in Britain (London and New York: Routledge, 2002), 157
Figure 43a – Uses of living room. Choosing a House Design (Ottawa: CMHC, 1956)
Figure 43b – Uses of dining area. Choosing a House Design (Ottawa: CMHC, 1956)
Figure 43c – Cooking activities in the house. Choosing a House Design (Ottawa: CMHC, 1956)
Figure 43d – Laundry activities in the house. Choosing a House Design (Ottawa: CMHC, 1956)
Figure 44 – Advertisement for modern home appliances, Reynolds Aluminium. Jim Heimann
(ed.), All-American Ads 60s (Los Angeles: Taschen, 2002)
Figure 45 – Advertisement for Old Dutch cleanser. Maclean’s (February, 13, 1952)
Figure 46 – Sketch of family and functional areas of house. Canadian Homes & Gardens (May
1952), p. 17
Figure 47 – Design 526, architect L.F. Fonseca (Vancouver, BC). Small House Designs (Ottawa:
CMHC, 1957)
Figure 48a – Design 139, designer F.W. Sunter (Nanaimo BC), architect D.L. Sawtell (Vancover
BC). Small House Designs (Ottawa: CMHC, 1958)
Figure 48b – Design 139, designer F.W. Sunter (Nanaimo BC), architect D.L. Sawtell (Vancover
BC). Small House Designs (Ottawa: CMHC, 1972)
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Figure 49a – Design 267, architect Michael Dixon (Ottawa). Small House Designs (Ottawa:
CMHC, 1972) Figure 49b – Design 277, architect Michael Dixon (Ottawa). Small House Designs
(Ottawa: CMHC, 1958)
Figure 50 – Design 281, architect Alan Hanna (Winnipeg, MB). Small House Designs (Ottawa:
CMHC, 1958)
Figure 51 – Design 610, architect H. L. McIntyre (Winnipeg, MB). Small House Designs (Ottawa:
CMHC, 1962)
Figure 52 – Design 765, architects Dennis & Freda O’Connor (Edmonton, AB). Small House
Designs (Ottawa: CMHC, 1962)
Figure 53 – Design 767, architect R. Whiteley (Don Mills, ON). Small House Designs (Ottawa:
CMHC, 1962)
Figure 54 – Advertisement for B.F. Goodrich tires in Macleans’ (July 16, 1960)
Figure 55a – Rothwell Heights, Ottawa - 18 February 1949 aerial photo scale 1:12000. National
Air Photo Library, Ottawa
Figure 55b – Rothwell Heights, Ottawa - 17 July 1959 aerial photo scale 1:9000. National Air
Photo Library, Ottawa
Figure 55c – Rothwell Heights, Ottawa - 6 May 1969 aerial photo scale 1:15000. National Air
Photo Library, Ottawa
Figure 55d – Rothwell Heights, Ottawa - 3 August 2009 aerial photo scale unknown. Google Maps
Figure 56 – Making the street at Place Joly (now Rue Lemay) looking towards Rue Belanger (now
Rue Dozois) in St. Rose (now Laval), Montreal, Quebec – autumn 1961. Courtesy of Patrick
Mates
Figure 57 – Tremblay house in Gloucester, Ottawa South, with hothouses behind. Photo by author,
April 2009
Figure 58 – Nickerson house in Nepean late 1990s. Courtesy of Eleanor Nickerson
Figure 59 – Walsh house seen from the street in 1960, with the Rideau River at the back of their
property. Courtesy of John and Barbara Walsh
Figure 60 – Kelso house seen from the street in 1957, in a real estate advertisement. Courtesy of
Burt and Patricia Kelso
Figure 61a – Perry house in Osgoode, ON, continuing land in-fill between his house and his
neighbour’s. Photo by author, April 2009
Figure 61b – Houses across the street from Perry house with individual land in-fills. Photo by
author, April 2009
Figure 62a-b – Norton house dining room and living room, open to one another, offer a feeling of
spaciousness given by the cathedral ceiling. Photos by author, April 2009
Figure 62c – Design 751, Architect Henri Fliess (Toronto, ON): “From the street this house
appears to be a bungalow”. Small House Designs (Ottawa: CMHC, 1962)
Figure 62d – Norton house immediately after construction in 1960. Courtesy of Lori Norton Adkin
Figure 63a – Clerk house, architect Alan Crossley: color pencil drawing of main façade (1957).
Courtesy of Jack and Rose Clerk
Figure 63b – Clerk house seen from the back immediately after construction (1958). Courtesy of
Jack and Rose Clerk
Figure 64a – Perspective drawing for design 810, architects A. Debicki & P.S. Le Mare
(Vancouver BC). Small House Designs (Ottawa: CMHC, 1965)
Figure 64b– Huus house in Arnprior, ON, built 1966. Photo by author, April 2009
Figure 65 – Positioning a laundry area in the kitchen or in the basement: pencil marks by Patrick
Mates. Choosing a House Design (Ottawa: CMHC, 1956), 27
Figure 66 – Details of Perry house: bathroom (a), back façade with non-centred basement
windows (b) and small backsplash in kitchen (c). Photos by author, May 2009
Figure 67a – Design 2329, architect J. Gilmour (Vancouver, BC). Small House Designs (Ottawa:
CMHC, 1962)
Figure 67b – Perry house. Photo by author, May 2009
Figure 68a – Design 267, architect Michael Dixon (Ottawa). Small House Designs (Ottawa:
CMHC, 1962)
Figure 68b – Dobson house. Photo by author, April 2009
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Figure 68c – Design 267, architect Michael Dixon (Ottawa). Small House Designs (Ottawa:
CMHC, 1972)
Figure 68d – Dobson house. Author’s sketch of possible furniture configuration juxtaposed on
built plan.
Figures 68e-f – Doris and Gordon Dobson in their living room: the actual furniture configuration
allows for light and view from the picture window. Photos by author, April 2009
Figure 69a – Nickerson house (Nepean) at the time of construction 1954. Courtesy of Eleanor
Nickerson
Figure 69b – Nickerson house: view out of living room window (front) showing the empty fields
southward. Courtesy of Eleanor Nickerson
Figure 69c – Nickerson house: view out of dining room window (back)with houses being built at a
rapid pace on the former farm land. Courtesy of Eleanor Nickerson
Figure 70a – Possible views from the living area proposed by CMHC advisers in Choosing a
House Design (Ottawa: CMHC, 1956), 16
Figure 70b – Good and bad views outside the living room window. “House and Site United”,
Housing and Home Finance Agency, Washington, D.C., Government Printing Office, 1952
(illustration from Sandy Isenstadt, The Modern American House, 241)
Figure 71a – Eystein Huus at his desk in the living room (1967). Courtesy of Eystein and Randy
Huus.
Figure 71b – A friend of Gerry and Janet Duffield performing magic tricks at a party in the living
room of their home (circa 1970). Courtesy of Gerry and Janet Duffield
Figure 72a – Clerk children in the living room 1961. Courtesy of Jack and Rose Clerk
Figure 72b – Huus child ‘cooking’ at the kitchen table 1967. Courtesy of Eystein and Randy Huus
Figure 72c – Clerk children having picnic in the garden 1963. Courtesy of Jack and Rose Clerk
Figure 72d – Luchia child on the covered porch, undated photo. Courtesy of Sandra Luchia
Figure 73 – Spears house with the spilt-level addition to the left. Author’s sketch from owners’
description
Figure 74 – Joan and Arnold Spears with a friend in front of their house in Sudbury, ON (circa
2000). Courtesy of Joan and Arnold Spears
Figure 75 – Design 264, architect Roland Dumais (Montreal, QC). Small House Designs (Ottawa:
CMHC, 1968)
Figure 76a – Mates house in spring 1961, north Montreal. Courtesy of Patrick Mates
Figure 76b – Plan sketch by Patrick Mates of modifications to plan. Courtesy of Patrick Mates
Figure 77a – Clerk house: architect Alan Crossley’s initial drawings of the back and front façades
(1957). The drawing of the front façade shows first extension above the carport. Courtesy of Jack
and Rose Clerk
Figure 77b – Clerk house: drawing of the front façade with “screened porch” walled in (1964).
Drawings and addition by Pinkney and Gardiner Construction Inc. Courtesy of Jack and Rose
Clerk
Figure 77c – Present plan of the Clerk house, after all additions. Drawing by author
Figure 78 – Design 200 as a ‘mirrored’ plan, architect Roland Dumais (Montreal, QC). Small
House Designs (Ottawa: CMHC, 1954)
Figure 79 – Kelso house transformation: Burt Kelso’s sketches of ground-floor and second-floor.
Courtesy of Burt and Patricia Kelso
Figure 80a – American house., unidentified American magazine, ca. 1960 (Kelso collection of
inspirational sources). Courtesy of Burt and Patricia Kelso
Figure 80b – Kelso house on Merivale Road, now a Catholic convent. Photo by author, May 2009
Figure 80c – “They Raised the Roof”, unidentified Canadian magazine, ca. 1960 (Kelso collection
of inspirational sources). Courtesy of Burt and Patricia Kelso
Figure 80d – Kelso house: staircase. Photo by author, May 2009
Figure 81a – Kelso house: entrance hall. Photo by author, May 2009
Figure 81b – Three generations of Kelsos in the new dining room, early 1970s. Courtesy of Burt
and Patricia Kelso
Figure 82a – Burt and Patricia Kelso in the upstairs living room at one of their daughters’
wedding, ca. 1980. Courtesy of Burt and Patricia Kelso
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Figure 82b – One of the Kelso daughters on her wedding day in the living room, ca. 1980.
Courtesy of Burt and Patricia Kelso
Figure 82c – Kelso family members decorating the garage for a family wedding, ca. 1980.
Courtesy of Burt and Patricia Kelso
Figure 83 – Norton house: “living room” addition in 1970. Drawing by Frank Norton. Courtesy of
Frances Norton
Figure 84 – Design 751, architect Henri Fliess (Toronto, ON). Small House Designs (Ottawa:
CMHC, 1958)
Figure 85 a-b – Living room and dining room (opposite corners of same open space) forming the
“family room” in Norton house. Photos by author, May 2009
Figure 86 a-b – The opposite walls of the “new living room” in Norton house. Photos by author,
May 2009
Figure 87 – Design 533, architect D.G. Hallford (Oakville, ON). Small House Designs (Ottawa:
CMHC, 1968)
Figure 88a – Design 533 as drawn by Myrna Andrews (1968). Courtesy of Myrna Andrews
Figure 88b – Fully-landscaped site plan drawn by Myrna Andrews (1968). Courtesy of Myrna
Andrews
Figure 89 – Furniture plan for design 533, drawn by Myrna Andrews (1968). Courtesy of Myrna
Andrews

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Abstract

The Canadian urban landscape is filled with single-detached houses built in the post-
World War II period. Whether one-storey, one-and-a-half-storey, two-storey or split-
level, they were built by families across the country from efficient plans featuring
minimal square footage. Many plans were designed by Canadian architects and included
in catalogues published by the Central (now Canada) Mortgage and Housing Corporation
(CMHC) during the first two decades after the Second World War. In setting up a Small
House Design Scheme for the particular purpose of urbanizing communities smaller than
those in the big cities, the corporation acted as mediator between architects and
homeowners who could not afford professional services. This endeavour was inscribed in
a larger effort made by CMHC to educate Canadian homeowners and builders in
architectural matters.
This dissertation argues that the postwar houses, despite their small size, are a major
arena for the expression of modernism defined as it were by ideals of an egalitarian
democracy and by scientific rationalism embraced by Canadian leaders at the time and
projected unto the Canadian society. In this respect, the CMHC catalogues were vehicles
to educate and convince ordinary Canadians of the values of modernism. While these
plan books are the principal primary sources in this study, a rich collection of written
documents and architectural drawings, as well as numerous oral histories collected from
CMHC employees, architects and homeowners complete the picture.
CMHC followed the model of the United States Federal Housing Administration, yet
architects working for the corporation brought in distinctly British architectural and urban
planning ideals. American and British models thus highly influenced the views which
CMHC imposed on Canadians and which were underlined by concepts such as those of
‘modern space’ and ‘modern family’. In looking at prescribed models for family ideals in
the era and by means of interviews with people who purchased postwar houses (and/or
their children), this study addresses how the transformations which occurred in the house
plan are connected with social changes in postwar Canada.
In terms of the architectural models which were circulated in the postwar years, this study
looks at the roles of federal and provincial agencies, as well as professionals like
architects and builders. It systematically explores the designs in the CMHC catalogues to
uncover when and why changes occurred in the postwar house plan; it engages the role of
the media - such as popular magazines, television shows and film documentaries – as a
milieu liaising between the ideals and realities of the era in promoting modern life-styles
based on traditional values. Lastly, it considers the opinions of the original inhabitants in
an attempt to locate the intersection of real and ideal lives within these houses.
With its focus on Canadian sources, this analysis is inscribed in a larger assessment of the
North American architectural profession, postwar material culture and house design. It
provides critical points to understand the impact of federal mandates such as CMHC’s
Small House Design Scheme in Canadian society beyond the immediate scope of this
project, as houses built in Canada today are directly derived from the trail of thought and
implementation of this Scheme.

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