Tales from the Crypt
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Samuel Maclure's Toronto Foray - posted on November 20, 2025
Samuel Maclure (1860-1929) is Victoria's most influential architect with over 450 commissions through his career, most of them in Victoria, Vancouver, across Vancouver Island and scattered through various town in British Columbia. Martin Seeger, who literally wrote the book on Maclure summarizes his design style:
"Noted mainly for his Tudor Revival house designs with their open plans and two-storey central halls, Maclure's buildings use native materials and local construction techniques. He pioneered a local variant of the shingle style, worked in traditional board-and-batten, and after 1912 turned increasingly to Edwardian classicism. The use of unbarked log-slab construction combined with fieldstone masonry was a feature of much of his work. His meticulous construction supervision and finely detailed plans and drawings caused contractors to add a surcharge to their estimates.
He was noted for his ability to exploit the topography of the site: windows, porches and verandahs were oriented to capture the dramatic Pacific coast views. Maclure was also well known for his garden and landscape designs that skilfully combined native flora with the plant materials and the natural design aesthetic of the English Arts and Crafts Movement. " - The Canadian Encyclopedia
Although well known in British Columbia, his influence and awareness of his work diminishes beyond the Rocky Mountains and The Faraway Lands to the East. Imagine my surprise then, when I stumbled across an online reference to Maclure architectural drawings for a home in The Big Smoke, aka - Toronto.
Sketch of proposed residence, Toronto, Ontario, for F.M. Sloan, Esq. reads the caption at the University of Victoria's Special Collections and University Archives. The sketch is dated May 1921 by Maclure in the right hand corner. Hmm, proposed residence doesn't sound very promising.
There is an address however - 91 Forest Hill Road, Toronto, Ont.
I search the city archives in Toronto - no luck, date of construction is not public information as in British Columbia. Google Street View isn't much help because of a tree blocking the direct view and the side views were inconclusive as shown below. Perhaps there's been additions on the top floor but the main floor retains the Maclure grandeur, assuming it's actually his design?! Many questions.
I've been on a extended safari to shoot photographs of his buildings the past couple years, but this has been limited to Victoria and Vancouver. But hey, Toronto is a mere 3,370 km away.
So in May 2025 I packed my Dora the Explorer Backpack (I travel light) and headed to Toronto to determine if Maclure's design was built and if yes, is it the one shown on Google Street View? While I wasn't confident I'd see an actual Samuel Maclure home in Toronto, the consolation prize was exploring the historic neighbourhoods and downtown core with its massive skyscrapers and often brilliantly designed mid-rise buildings. Yes, everyone loves to hate on Toronto for it's traffic, failed transit, suburban sprawl and Centre of the Universe-ness, but architecturally it's Canada's most dynamic city.
91 Forest Hill Road is on the border of the Forest Hill (you don't say) and Casa Loma neighbourhoods north of downtown. The area has Rockland vibes, the Victoria neighbourhood where many of Maclure's masterpieces are located. Both are situated on elevated escarpments overlooking downtown, featuring plenty of trees, historic homes and a Big Ass Mansion turned Tourist Castle (formula: BAM → TC) . The differences are just as obvious, such as one being surrounded by a CMA population of 7,106,379 and the other - NOT. Or 441,491 to be precise, thanks Stats Canada.
Check out my Samuel Maclure Photo Gallery on Flickr - Casa Loma and Craigdarroch Castle in Victoria's Rockland neighbourhood are shown below:
Many of Samuel Maclure's homes are located in the Rockland neighborhood and in one case directly backing onto Craigdarroch Castle. While he wasn't the architect for Craigdarroch he was for Hatley Castle situated 15 km away on a 260 hectare oceanfront estate. Hatley was built for James Dunsmuir, a former Premier, Lieutenant-Governor and wealthiest man in British Columbia. Ironically (and obviously) he was also the son of Robert Dunsmuir, the original owner of Craigdarroch who died before his own castle was completed.
Samuel Maclure homes in Victoria's Rockland neighbourhood
Grierson Manor -906 Pemberton Rd. Built 1911
Galt House - 1320 Rockland Ave. Built 1914
Illahie - 1041 St. Charles St. Built 1907
Illahie - 1041 St. Charles St. Built 1907
Wilmar - 944 St. Charles St. Built 1910
Wilmar - 944 St. Charles St. Built 1910
Now you've got the feel for Maclure's work let's head back toToronto.
May 18, 2025, a lovely 15 degree C Sunday morning as I head out on my mission, first passing by Casa Loma. I took some good pictures of the castle in 2024 but once again I don't pony up the $40 to go inside for the tour - next time. I'm too focused on getting to 91 Forest Hill Road, 1.9 km and a 27 minute walk according to Google Maps. I pick up the pace, because knowing my luck there's a decent chance it will be destroyed by a small comet or collapse into a gigantic sinkhole in those 27 minutes. I head up Spadina Avenue and turn right on St. Clair Avenue West which feels like a busy big city road but my spirits pick up again as I pass an impressive church - Timothy Eaton Memorial Church. Very cool, imagine if they built a church for every department store that failed. Zellers, Hudson's Bay, K-Mart, hmm.
One block later I see Forest Hill Road, turn left and after passing a modern condo building on the corner - good news, it's a narrow residential tree lined street, the sky is comet free and the ground feels stable. Plenty of fancy older brick and stone buildings from the 1920's, but Maclure rarely used brick on exteriors and stone primarily at the base/first floor level so a Sammy Boy would be a bit out of place here. Rumour has it when this neighbourhood was being developed in the 1920's every home was mandated to plant a tree in the front yard. This makes it difficult to obtain a clear view of a many of the homes - damn that 1920's city planner!
I reach 89 Forest Hill Road, a home so classy it has its address spelled out in full in fancy handwritten font. In wood lettering. Way classier than felt markers or spray paint. The next address, drum roll please - 91 Forest Hill Road - Behold!
My heart sinks, I collapse to my knees and pray for the earth to open up and take me and 91 Forest Hill to a better place.
Yes, there is no doubt it's a Samuel Maclure home - but a modest one with brutal additions over the years. If I was an architect I'd be able to explain in detail the changes, but alas I'm a mere mortal with a broken heart. The mandated front yard tree prevent a front view photo of what unfortunately is the saddest house on the block. Sure it's 29 times nicer than the cardboard box I currently live in, but I had high expectations.
A couple months later, while recuperating in Victoria from TTC (The Toronto Calamity) I came across a November 2013 Toronto real estate blog post on The Mash about 91 Forest Hill Road. I kept their font, awkward spacing and spelling mistake for dramatic effect:
What's up with this house!?!
It was first listed ages ago for $1,998,550.
It's a good sized 4 bedroom, 4 bathroom house with a garage.
From the outside, I really like it. It shows realy well. Inside, it's a little dated and probably something that just a little paint could change. For example, there is still a huge stack of VHS tapes in the basement...
Circa 2013 interior shots of 91 Forest Hill Road - the heart breaks again. Oh hi, it's me again from Mapping Victoria, not the The Mash. More photos there including one of the stack of VHS tapes. I suppose that speaks to authentic heritage right?
Perhaps on a happier note, I also came across another out of province Maclure home - this time in Edmonton Alberta. A 1912 Tudor Revival home at 12729 Stony Plain Road (formerly 651 Hardisty Avenue) is recognized as a historic home and even has its own Edmonton Historic Board web page - the C.W. Cross Residence!
Oh wait, it was abandoned in the 1970's, left to rot and burned to the ground in August 1976. Its remains were bulldozed from the face of the earth in October 1976.
12729 Stony Plain Rd - image source
The final non-British Columbia Maclure home takes us out of country to Washington State, USA. The Ramsay House in Ellensburg:
"Scottish immigrants David & Elizabeth Ramsay, who opened the first hardware store in the Kittitas Valley, built the shingle style craftsman bungalow at 215 E 9th Avenue from 1903-1905. The home was designed by Canadian architect, Samuel Maclure, who was one of North America's most noted architects in the Arts & Crafts movement. The Ramsay house has had only three owners in nearly 120 years and remains largely in its original state. From the massive two-story central stair to its built ins and original stained glass, the home today is still one of the finest homes in the City of Ellensburg." Redfin.com
In 1986 it was nominated for and placed on the United States National Register of Historic Places.
The Redfin.com listing is insightful - 215 E 9th Ave, Ellensburg sold for a bargain basement price of $1,050,000 in July 2024. Check it out before the listing and its 39 photos disappear. A few highlights below. Until next time my friends, the Crypt is now closed.
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