E. J. Lennox

Edward James Lennox (September 12, 1854 – April 15, 1933) was a Toronto-based architect who designed several of the city's most notable landmarks in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, including Old City Hall and Casa Loma. He designed over 70 buildings in the city of Toronto.

E. J. Lennox
Born
Edward James Lennox

September 12, 1854
Toronto, Ontario, Canada
DiedApril 15, 1933(1933-04-15) (aged 78)
Toronto, Ontario, Canada
OccupationArchitect
Spouse(s)
Emiline Wilson
​
(m. 1881)​
Children
  • Eola Gertrude
  • Edgar Edward
  • Mabel Emeline
  • Edith May

Life and career
Lennox standing in front of one of his buildings, the Freehold Loan Building, at Adelaide and Victoria Streets

The son of Irish immigrants, he studied at the Mechanics' Institute in Toronto, where he finished first in his class. Upon graduation in 1874, he apprenticed with architect William Irving for five years. He then formed a partnership with fellow architect William Frederick McCaw, before forming his own firm in 1881.

He quickly became one of the most successful architects in Toronto. He rose to the top of his profession when he won the contract for Toronto City Hall in 1886. His caricature can be seen carved in stone on the facade of Old City Hall—he's the one with the handlebar moustache.

Many of his buildings were designed in the Richardsonian Romanesque style, and he was one of the most important figures in bringing that style to Toronto. His creative prowess in the Romanesque Revival style was especially important in The Annex neighbourhood, where Lennox designed the Lewis Lukes House at 37 Madison Avenue in the mid-1880s, pioneering the Annex House. This style of house is indigenous to Toronto, and it blends elements of Romanesque with that of Queen Anne style.

Later in his life, he served as commissioner of the Toronto Transit Commission from 1923 to 1929.

Buildings
Building Location Dates Notes Image
Hanlan's Hotel Toronto Islands 1875 Queen Anne; demolished
Twenty Plenty outlet 150 Main Street, Unionville, Ontario 1879 Queen Anne; built as Unionville Congregational Church and sold to Presbyterian Church 1894 and sold again 1925; later used as veterans hall 1949-1998, home to Home Aid Society and retail store.
Bond Street Congregational Church Dundas Street and Bond Street (northeast corner) 1879 Gothic Revival; destroyed 1981 (fire, then demolished)
Berwick Hall 139 Main Street South, Georgetown 1882 Victorian; home of local businessman John R. Barber from 1880 to 1904, then an apartment building[1]
Massey Manufacturing Company Office Building 710 King Street West and 519 King Street West 1883 Richardsonian Romanesque; 710 demolished, with 519 now as 511 King Street West (offices and retail tenants)
Lewis Lukes House 37 Madison Avenue, The Annex 1886 Richardsonian Romanesque; converted to office space (Maverick Public Relations Inc.)
Milburn Building 47-55 Colborne Street 1886 Richardsonian Romanesque; lower floor restaurants and upper floor offices
Mausoleum of Hart Massey Mount Pleasant Cemetery, Toronto 1892 Richardsonian Romanesque
Toronto Athletic Club 149 College Street at University Avenue, Toronto 1894 Richardsonian Romanesque; now Rotman School, University of Toronto
Beard Building King Street East and Jarvis Street, Toronto 1894 Richardsonian Romanesque; considered the city's first skyscraper; demolished in the 1930s
Georgetown High School Georgetown, Ontario 1899 Demolished 1959 and replaced with current building 1960 (now Georgetown District High School)
Freehold Loan Building Adelaide Street East at Victoria Street, Toronto 1890 Demolished 1960s; became 20 Adelaide Street East c. 1988
Broadway Methodist Tabernacle College Street and Spadina Avenue, Toronto 1899 Richardsonian Romanesque; demolished c. 1930
Old City Hall Queen Street West and Bay Street, Toronto 1899 Richardsonian Romanesque; now provincial court house
Massey Harris Head Office 915 King Street West, Toronto 1899 Richardsonian Romanesque; now Massey Harris Lofts
King Edward Hotel King Street East and Jarvis Street, Toronto 1903 Chicago School; designed with Henry Ives Cobb for George Gooderham's Toronto Hotel Company[2]
Toronto-Bridgman Transformer Station 391 Davenport Road 1904 Toronto Hydro Transformer Station
Bank of Toronto Yonge Street and Queen Street 1905 Neo-Classical
West Wing of the Ontario Legislative Building at Queen's Park Queen's Park Crescent, Toronto 1909 Edwardian Neo-Classical to interior and additional floor on West Wing
Casa Loma 1 Austin Terrace, Toronto 1911 Gothic Revival
Toronto Power Generating Station Niagara Falls, Ontario 1906 Beaux-Arts
St. Paul's Anglican Church 227 Bloor Street East 1913 Gothic Revival
Postal Station G 765 Queen Street East, South Riverdale, Toronto 1913 Neo-Classical; Queen/Saulter Library 1980, today the Ralph Thornton Community Centre
Lenwil 5 Austin Terrace 1913 Tudor Revival; built by Lennox as his own residence, and today is the provincial home of the Sisters Servants of Mary Immaculate
Excelsior Life Insurance Company Building 36 Toronto Street 1914 Beaux-Arts; currently used as office and commercial space
Wolseley Motor Car Company 77 Avenue Road 1914 Richardsonian Romanesque; demolished 1976 and now part of Hazelton Lanes complex
Toronto Western Hospital399 Bathurst Street1906
Neo-Renaissance; 1906 (North Wing), 1910 (South Wing), 1911 and 1923 (additions )
Demolished 1950s-1992; now parking lot
Residence for James B. Boustead 134 Bloor Street East 1891 Tudor Revival; built for James Bellingham Boustead, Toronto entrepreneur and Toronto alderman 1865–1897; demolished mid-20th century and near the site of the Manulife Insurance Building
Hagerman Public School / School Section # 8 4121 Fourteenth Avenue, Markham, Ontario 1888 Richardsonian Romanesque school house is believed to be designed by Lennox.[3] Now used as The School Fine Dining.
New Toronto Hydro Sub Station 124 Birmingham Street, New Toronto 1917 Edwardian Revival building awaiting historic designation; Now abandoned and awaiting re-development pending sale by city's CreateTO.[4]

Legacy

A small residential street called E.J. Lennox Way is named for him in Unionville, Ontario, behind the former Unionville Congregational Church.

His son Edgar Edward Lennox was also an architect, as well as brother Charles David Lennox, who worked with E. J. Lennox from 1887 to 1915.

Susan M. Lennox great grand daughter of Charles David Lennox and great great niece of E. J. Lennox also an Architect. Graduate of University of Toronto 1992 Bachelor of Architecture. Co-Founder of Lennox Architects Limited Huntsville Ontario with Susana Marques.

Notes

[1]

  1. "#ThrowbackThursday: Berwick Hall in Georgetown, 1913". The Independent Free Press. 2018-05-31. Retrieved 2019-02-10. A familiar Georgetown landmark since 1883, Berwick Hall was designed by Edward J. Lennox, who also designed Toronto's Old City Hall and Casa Loma.
  2. Ontario Heritage Trust King Edward Hotel Archived 2011-05-17 at the Wayback Machine
  3. http://www.historictours.ca/HT1.asp?strID=241
  4. https://www.toronto.com/news-story/9338859-councillor-seeks-heritage-designation-for-new-toronto-hydro-substation/

References
  • Lennox, Edward James. The Canadian Encyclopedia.
  • Litvak, Marilyn M. Edward James Lennox: Builder of Toronto

External
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