{"id":1734,"date":"2021-06-06T00:12:06","date_gmt":"2021-06-06T04:12:06","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/pricefamily.ca\/?p=1734"},"modified":"2021-06-13T18:14:30","modified_gmt":"2021-06-13T22:14:30","slug":"harry-stevens-the-forgotten-man-who-designed-the-price-brothers-fourplexes-and-duplexes","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/pricefamily.ca\/harry-stevens-the-forgotten-man-who-designed-the-price-brothers-fourplexes-and-duplexes\/","title":{"rendered":"Harry Stevens, The Forgotten Man Who Designed the Price Brothers Fourplexes and Duplexes"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
I’ve now had the privilege of giving two talks<\/a>, for the Beach & East Toronto Historical Society<\/a>, about the Price Brothers and their impact on the development of the Beach. One of the things that most struck me, in preparing for those talks, was the important but virtually forgotten role of Harry Stevens.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n It was Harry, a carpenter and grocer with no architectural training whatsoever, who designed all those iconic Price Brothers buildings that grace the streets of the Beach district, south of Queen Street and between Leuty Avenue and Maclean Avenue. Some of those same buildings have since been included in Toronto’s Heritage Register<\/a> because of their cultural value. In 2012, the city’s Urban Design Guidelines<\/a> for Queen Street East stressed the importance of protecting them, again because of their cultural value.<\/p>\n\n\n\n In July of 1928, when the Toronto Globe did a two-and-a-half page spread<\/a> about the development of that part of the Beach, the final page<\/a> included \u2013 almost as an afterthought \u2013 a brief article citing Harry’s contribution as the company’s buyer, building superintendent, and architect. As far as I know, that article is the only evidence there is of Harry’s contribution.<\/p>\n\n\n\n So, if it seems that history has forgotten Harry’s astounding architectural achievement, this post is part of my effort to correct that oversight. What I’m going to do is share the Globe article with you, and then tell you pretty much everything I have been able to learn about Harry Stevens.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Here is the article as it appeared in the Globe that day, followed by a transcription.<\/p>\n\n\n\nWith No More Than a “Knack for Designing,” He Created a Lasting Architectural Legacy<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
\n\n\n\nThe Globe Article \u2013 July 2, 1928 \u2013 p. 12<\/h3>\n\n\n\n