William Hope House(11/1906-1/1907)
994 Dorchester Boulevard [Street] West, Montreal, QC, Canada
Residential, Urban house [semi-detached, 3 floors, piano nobile, 10 bedrooms]; brick and stone; wall bearing

Client: William Hope
Architect: E. & W.S. Maxwell

Description: The imposing urban residence built by William Hope on Dorchester Street in Montreal represented the perfect example of the combined talent of the Maxwell brothers. The house was an important Montreal example in the Edwardian Baroque manner that flourished in the urban centres of Canada of the early 1900s. A similar scheme was adopted by the Maxwell brothers for the J.K.L. Ross House, which they designed in 1908, soon after the completion of Hope’s house at Saint-Andrews. The house was semi-detached along the west wall. The composition of the northern façade consisted of a rusticated ground floor, above which were two floors whose windows grew smaller and less elaborated as they ascended. The bay projection at the centre of the façade comprised of a drawing room at the ground floor level and bedrooms on the upper floors. This bay projection at the front, ran the entire height of the building from the entrance doorway at the ground level. It featured rectangular windows with lacy wrought iron balconies and a circular fan light on the first floor level, and the less elaborate window openings on the second floor level. A pronounced cornice terminated this bay, with a parapet masking the roof. The entrance doorway, inserted at the centre of the bay, featured a highly carved, wooden door flanked by two Ionic columns. A thick stone band, which ran horizontally, separated the ground floor from the upper two floors. All the window openings in the projected bay were treated with plain stone surrounds, and the remaining ones were decorated with keystones. The south façade, similar to the north façade, featured a projected bay with a dining room on the ground floor, and bedrooms on the upper floors. The ground floor plan of the William Hopes House illustrated a strong central axis by the entrance doorway opening directly onto the drawing room. The large central hall connected the front drawing room with the rear dining room, providing access to the library and studio towards east side and a large staircase to the west. The kitchen was placed to the west side of the hall but was reached through the dining room. The first floor accommodated six bedrooms and the space above the hall on the ground floor became the billiard room on the first floor. The basement contained four servants’ bedrooms and the laundry. The interior of the house was decorated with the finest craftsmanship, which reflected the most fashionable taste found in grand North American residences. The drawing room featured eighteenth-century French elegance in the exquisite wooden ceiling, ornamented with carved wooden wreaths and garlands, and flutings. The hall featured chamfered corners, warm-toned classical panelling, a welcoming fireplace and fluted Ionic pilasters, that echoed the columns flanking the entrance doorway. The house, which survived for many years, now no longer exists.

Holdings: Urban house (semi-detached, 3 floors, piano nobile, 10 bedrooms); brick and stone; wall bearing
83 Drawings: 37 ink on linen; 7 ink on paper; 16 pencil on paper; 3 watercolour on paper; 20 blueprints
6 Working drawings: floor plans, elevations, section
77 Detail drawings: ceiling plan, elevations, furnace room, drawing room, studio, library, dining room, billiard room, vestibule, entry, structure, pilasters, staircases, fireplaces, chimneys, mantelpieces, bays, skylight, doors, furniture, fixtures, fittings, dado, rugs, ornamentation, finishes, plasterwork, brasswork, tilework, woodwork, iron fence, coping, balcony