Blair House

Built in 1921 and designed by renowned architects Twizell, Bird & Twizell and built by J.C. McLoed, 1550 Harwood street is significant for its association with its first owner and architect. Lieutenant-Colonel Robert Mills ‘Bulls-eye’ Blair of the 72nd Seaforth Highlanders of Canada. Blair commissioned Twizell Birds, and Twizell to design a home for him and his family to live in.

Lieutenant-Colonel Blair was the toast of Canada, and gained fame within the British Empire for being the first double winner of the King’s Prize and Grand Aggregate awards when he won the British Empire rifle matches at the Bizley Rifle Range in 1929).

He remarried to Sarah Dorothy Blair, and he lived in the house until his death in 1967 at the age of 93.
The house is principally valuable for being a surviving example of a modest home in the West End. Now surrounded by mid- to high-rise development, the modestly-sized house set on its simple lawn dramatizes the physical and social changes of the West End since its beginnings as a suburb of detached single-family dwellings for a predominantly British population.

Source

Canada's Historic Places, Biographic Dictionary of Architects in Canada 1800-1950, http://househistorian.blogspot.com/2009/09/west-end-story-1550-harwood-robert.html ; https://www.historicplaces.ca/en/rep-reg/place-lieu.aspx?id=11016&pid=0

More information

http://www.historicplaces.ca/fr/rep-reg/place-lieu.aspx?id=11016&pid=0