I M A G E S:
Drawings
Dr. J.M. Elder House([Before 1902])
400 Mount Pleasant Avenue and 4201 Sherbrooke Street West, Westmount, QC, Canada
Residential, Urban house [basement, 2 floors, attic]; brick and stone; composite

Client: Dr. J.M. Elder
Architect: E. Maxwell

Description: Dr. Elder was a surgeon trained at McGill University; he received his C.M. in 1886. He was born in Huntingdon, QC, in 1859 and in his youth, was an excellent athlete, especially in football. He married Miss Grace Whitehead Hendrie in 1886. He successfully practised medicine thereafter in Montreal as a surgeon for the Montreal General Hospital , as a professor of surgery at McGill University and as Surgeon-Major with the 2nd Regiment of the Canadian Artillery (long service decoration, 1907). This row house on a corner site is to be compared to that of George W. Cook Esq. (60) built in 1895 on Sherbrooke at Elm Street (now demolished). Dr. Elder’s house was probably designed around the same time; the drawing conventions, plan similarities and general design philosophy make them comparable. The Elder house, however, features an office and a waiting room at the front of the ground floor, most probably the owner’s medical offices, with a separate entrance on Sherbrooke Street. The private entrance hall in axis with the Mount Pleasant side entrance features a seat nestled within the curved main stair. The dining room and kitchen are to the rear. Upstairs above the offices to the front, a full-width drawing room is lit by a semicircular oriel window, while the main chambers overlook the rear. The attic floor features three more chambers, a maid’s room, a bathroom and a sewing room. The elevations reveal a playful rendition of Dutch urban houses with their stepped gables. One is centrally placed on the Sherbrooke front elevation and two are found on either side of the entrance on Mount Pleasant Avenue.

Holdings: Urban house (basement, 2 floors, attic); brick and stone; composite
19 Drawings: 18 ink on linen; 1 ink on paper
1 Presentation drawing: floor plan
11 Working drawings: floor plans, attic floor plan, elevations, section, structure
7 Detail drawings: larder, mantelpiece, windows, bays, furniture, radiator screens, fittings

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