E. J. Lennox

Edward James Lennox
Born	September 12, 1854 Toronto, Ontario, Canada
Died	April 15, 1933 (aged 78) Toronto, Ontario, Canada
Residence	Toronto
Nationality	Canadian
Other names	E.J. Lennox
Ethnicity	Irish Canadian
Occupation	Architect
Employer	Self-employed
Spouse(s)	Emiline (Wilson) Lennox
Children	Eola Gertrude, Edgar Edward, Mabel Emeline, Edith May

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.

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 where he finished first in his class. Upon graduation in 1874 he apprenticed for 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 the profession when he won the contract for Toronto City Hall in 1886. His caricature can be seen carved in stone on the facade of the Old City Hall—he's the one with the handlebar moustache.

Many of his buildings were designed in the Richardson 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 blends elements of Romanesque with that of Queen Anne style architecture.

Later in his career he served as commissioner of the Toronto Transit Commission from 1923-1929.

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; later used as veterans hall
Bond Street Congregational Church	Dundas Street and Bond Street (northeast corner)	1879	Gothic Revival; Destroyed 1981 and now Bond Place Hotel
Berwick Hall	139 Main Street South, Georgetown	c.1880	Victorian; Home of local businessman John R. Barber from 1880 to 1904 and since as an apartment building.
Massey Manufacturing Company Office Building	710 King Street West and 519 King Street West	1883	Richardson Romanesque; 710 demolished with 519 now as 511 King Street West and houses 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	Richardson Romanesque; lower floor restaurants and upper floor offices
Massey Mausoleum	Mount Pleasant Cemetery	1892	Richardson 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; demolished in the 1930s
Georgetown High School	Georgetown, Ontario	1899	Demolished 1959 and replace with current building 1960 (now Georgetown District High School)
Freehold Loan Building	Adelaide Street East at Victoria Street, Toronto	1890	demolished 1960s; now 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
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[1]
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 Neoclassical architecture 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	Neo-Renaissance
St. Paul's Anglican Church	227 Bloor Street East	1913	Richardsonian Romanesque
Postal Station G	South Riverdale, Toronto	1913	Neo-Classical; today the Ralph Thornton Community Centre
Lenwil	5 Austin Terrace	1913	Tudor Revival architecture; 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 Hospital	399 Bathurst Street	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

Legacy

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

Notes

1. Ontario Heritage Trust King Edward Hotel

References

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

External

² Historic Places in Canada