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Woodfield (LONDON): One of Canada's finest Victorian neighbourhoods
Woodfield
London, Ontario  |
London's best neighbourhood, Woodfield, is among the most well preserved large upper class Victorian neighbourhoods in Canada.
As in most cities, some of the larger mansions have been lost (mainly along Wellington St. and Queens Ave.) but many remain and the interior of the neighbourhood is almost completely intact. Many of the larger homes have found uses as professional offices, and in most cases are in excellent condition. Woodfield is a large neighbourhood with a wide variety of houses from tiny cottages to mansions. The architecture here is quite distinctive, often freely mixing various Victorian styles to create London's own Victorian vernacular. |
Since the neighbourhood is so large, and the architecture is so fascinating, I ended up with too many photos for one page. So this
thread is divided into several sections: Introduction Large homes and mansions Edwardian Classicism Italianate Second Empire Working class vernacular Double houses Rowhouses Apartment buildings Cottages |
Introduction
 The area where Woodfield sits was surveyed in 1935-36. Although the sign says 1840, by 1855 just three large country estates stood on the land that would become Woodfield. Significant development did not occur until the 1870s. Many of the mansions were built in the 1890s and early 1900s. In 1851, London's population was around 7,000. As the commercial centre of Southwestern Ontario, it grew quickly and London became the eighth largest city in Canada for much of the Late Victorian era. By 1900, London's population was 37,976, making it the tenth largest city in Canada, which it remains today. |
London's distinctive architectural character is enhanced by the wide use of yellow brick, which was actually known as "white brick".
The light shade of brick seen below is very common throughout the central part of southwestern Ontario and is used on the vast majority of London's earlier homes. It's the exact opposite of the Toronto and Hamilton areas, where red or orange brick dominates and white brick was used for details.   |
This is a common house type in Woodfield, "white" brick Italianate with a bit of Gothic Revival.
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Getting bigger:
  Beautiful settings:  "Worthy Place" 1878  |
Spacious, at times it's hard to believe this is only a few blocks from downtown.
  The neighbourhood is well-treed with large lots and wide boulevards between the sidewalk and street, more reminiscent of a town than a city. Although this makes for more ground to cover, the neighbourhood is walkable and the streetscapes are beautiful. The large space in front of the house made it easier to photograph: usually I have trouble fitting houses into the frame, in Woodfield I actually zoomed in on most of the houses.  |
A mix of Victorian and Edwardian houses.
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Red brick was used more often closer to the turn of the century.
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Some large homes and mansions
This very large and high quality mansion, now known as "Mocha Mosque," was built in 1903.  This Queen Anne home was built in 1893.  A similar one:    |
Several London mansions sport gigantic classical porticos like this:
 This classical mansion was built in 1910 for a cigar manufacturer.  This home was built in 1876 and originally had a centre tower. The second owner replaced it with this classical porch around the turn of the century.  |
This home was built in 1909, retaining some features of the Victorian era, but showing the influence of Edwardian Classicism.
 Another one:    |
Pike House, frats are big at the University of Western Ontario.
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First St. Andrew's Manse, 1871.
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Edwardian Classicism dominates the northern sections of the neighbourhood. These all would have been built after 1900:
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Back to Victorian era houses...
Straight up Italianate:         |
Built 1876, lost its hat later.
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Second Empire:
  A side view of a home (built 1874) that is now surrounded by modern additions.   This huge house has been extensively modified and is used as an office building.  Continued on next page--->http://aas.ath.cx/threads/woodfield1.jpg |
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