Robert Findlay (1859–1951) was a Scottish-born

Canadian Canadians (french: Canadiens) are people identified with the country of Canada. This connection may be residential, legal, historical or cultural. For most Canadians, many (or all) of these connections exist and are collectively the source of ...

architect An architect is a person who plans, designs and oversees the construction of buildings. To practice architecture means to provide services in connection with the design of buildings and the space within the site surrounding the buildings that h ...

. He was born in

Inverness Inverness (; from the gd, Inbhir Nis , meaning "Mouth of the River Ness"; sco, Innerness) is a city in the Scottish Highlands. It is the administrative centre for The Highland Council and is regarded as the capital of the Highlands. Histo ...

Scotland Scotland (, ) is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Covering the northern third of the island of Great Britain, mainland Scotland has a border with England to the southeast and is otherwise surrounded by the Atlantic Ocean to th ...

, and moved to

Montreal Montreal ( ; officially Montréal, ) is the second-most populous city in Canada and most populous city in the Canadian province of Quebec. Founded in 1642 as '' Ville-Marie'', or "City of Mary", it is named after Mount Royal, the triple- ...

in 1885. He won the competition to expand the first Sun Life Building and was the architect for that project, which he began in 1890. The Sun Life company left that building for the current

Sun Life Building The Sun Life Building (french: Édifice Sun Life) is a historic , 24-storey office building at 1155 Metcalfe Street on Dorchester Square in the city's downtown core of Montreal, Quebec, Canada. The building was completed in 1931 after three stag ...

in 1913.

Career

Findlay cultivated an extensive practice, working in later years with his son, Frank. He designed several mansions in the Golden Square Mile and a number of other large private houses in Westmount, as well as

Westmount City Hall Westmount City Hall is the seat of local government in Westmount, Quebec, Canada. It is located at 4333 Sherbrooke Street West below Côte Saint Antoine Road. It was designed by architects Francis R. Findlay and Robert Findlay in the Neo-Tudor s ...

. His private clients included four members of the Molson family, Robert Wilson Reford, F.E. Meredith, Charles Meredith, J.K.L. Ross, Sir Edward Beatty, Charles Francis Smithers, A.A. Bronfman and Sir Mortimer Davis. Many of the Golden Square Mile homes that he designed were later purchased by

McGill University McGill University (french: link=no, Université McGill) is an English-language public research university located in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. Founded in 1821 by royal charter granted by King George IV,Frost, Stanley Brice. ''McGill Universit ...

, including the Sir Mortimer Davis House (now Purvis Hall). Findlay designed the Calvary Congregational Church (1911) in Westmount, located at the intersection of Greene Street and Dorchester Boulevard (demolished in 1961). He also designed the base for Montreal's '' Lion of Belfort'' monument in Dorchester Square. Findlay was responsible for the design of Mull Hall (1916) on Lakeshore Road, later known as Stewart Hall, and for the Alice Graham Hallward House (1925) at 3605

Mountain Street Rue de la Montagne, also known as Mountain Street, is a north–south street located in downtown Montreal, Quebec, Canada. It starts at Wellington Street in the south and continues to above Doctor Penfield Avenue in the north, where it stops in ...

, known from 1971 to 2004 as McGill's Martlet House (not to be confused with McGill's current

Martlet House Martlet House (formerly Seagram House) is a Scottish baronial style building at 1430 Peel Street in Downtown Montreal, Quebec. The building was completed in 1928 by architect , with additions in 1931, 1947 and 1955. Previously the Montreal headq ...

at 1430 Peel Street, which was built by in 1928).

Gallery

File:Davis House -1900- - Notman Archive - McCord Museum.gif, Sir Mortimer Davis House (1900) File:Harold E. Stearns House, Montreal 01.jpg, Harold Stearns House (1904) File:Maison William Alexander Molson 01.jpg, William A. Molson House (1905) File:George Sumner House, Westmount 14.jpg, George Sumner House (1906) File:Maison Charlotte R. Harrisson (Macarow) 1.JPG, Charlotte R. Harrisson House (1912) File:Maison Herbert Molson 3.JPG, Herbert Molson House (1912) File:Charles Wesley Maclean House, Pointe-Claire 11.jpg, Stewart Hall (1916) File:Harrieth Frothingham House, Montreal 01.jpg, Harrieth Frothingham House (1916) File:Westmount City Hall 1.jpg,

(1922) File:Alice Graham House, Montreal 13.jpg, Alice Graham Hallward House (1925) File:Maison Joseph-Aldéric Raymond 06.jpg, Joseph-Aldéric Raymond House (1929) File:Maison Abe Bronfman 4.JPG, Abe

Bronfman Bronfman is a surname. The name is Yiddish in origin and originally referred to a dealer in distilled liquor (Yiddish ''bronfn''). Notable people with the surname include: *Bronfman family, Jewish-Canadian-American, owners of Seagram **Charles Bro ...

House (1931)

References

External links

McGill archives profile
(1993 thesis abstract)
Stewart HallWestmount Public Library: chronology
* ttp://cac.mcgill.ca/campus/buildings/Martlet_House.html Martlet House (formerly Hallward House) from Virtual McGillbr>Historic Places in Canada
{{DEFAULTSORT:Findlay, Robert 1859 births 1951 deaths Scottish architects Canadian architects Scottish emigrants to Canada People from Inverness Architects from Montreal Anglophone Quebec people