Sir Thomas Tait House [Link’s Crest](11/1911-11/1927)
15 Upper Campus Road, Saint-Andrews, NB, Canada
Residential, Country house [basement, 2 floors, attic, 12 bedrooms, servants' hall); brick and stone; wood frame with steel reinforcement; [earlier schemes are wall bearing]

Client: Sir Thomas James Tait
Architect: E. & W.S. Maxwell

Description: Sir Thomas James Tait, General Manger of CPR born in 1864, hired the Maxwell brothers to design his country house named Link’s Crest. For that reason he bought twenty acres of land across from the Algonquin Hotel. Instead of the shingle style house, he chose a Georgian Revival style, which was closer to his taste. A series of rectangular plans characterized the layout of this house built in red brick with symmetrical façades and neo-classical details like pediments, pilasters, Palladian windows, and porticos. A large pediment crowns the projecting frontispiece. A distinct feature of this house is the two high verandahs, which stretch across the garden side of the house where two pediments at roof level supported by stone pilasters highlight the red brick wall. The plan resembles those of the early west island country houses. The ground floor, 33m by 20m, is articulated by a vast hall reached by a monumental stairway placed at the center of the building with the living room on one side and the dining room on the other. A monumental staircase leads up to the bedrooms, which open onto balconies. The auxiliary buildings are placed in a U-shaped configuration surrounded by gardens. On the estate there are gazebos, stables, paddocks, greenhouses, and several cottages with shingle roofs. Link’s Crest was the last of the country mansions designed by the Maxwells for their important clients in Montreal. It is now called Anderson House and serves as a residence for the Huntsman Marine Science Centre.

Holdings: Country house (basement, 2 floors, attic, 12 bedrooms, servants' hall); brick and stone; wood frame with steel reinforcement; [earlier schemes are wall bearing]
133 Drawings: 8 ink on linen; 14 ink on paper; 67 pencil on paper; 44 blueprints
1 Survey drawing: grade levels of site
51 Sketch drawings: perspectives, site plans, floor plans, attic floor plans, elevations, sections, stairs, mouldings, woodwork, cornice, terrace, gate, water trough
3 Presentation drawings: perspectives, elevation
67 Development drawings: floor plans, attic floor plans, elevations, sections, balconies
6 Working drawings: floor plans, attic floor plans, elevations, section
5 Detail drawings: elevations, den, dining room, hall, stairs, mantelpieces, windows, fittings
1 File folder: specifications, load calculations, cost analysis, magazine clippings, notes, heating charts, framing data
10 Photographs: 9 finished exteriors; 1 finished detail
Comment: Edward & W.S. Maxwell appear on the earlier schemes (1918). Later drawings (1924) bear the names Maxwell & Pitts.

Comments: Edward & W.S. Maxwell appear on the earlier schemes (1918). Later drawings (1924) bear the names Maxwell & Pitts.