1913 – Fort Garry Hotel, Winnipeg, Manitoba

Architect: Ross & MacFarlane

hotel

isbister_lgeisbister_lgeisbister_lge0100isbister_lge

Built between 1911 and 1913, the Fort Garry Hotel was designed by George A. Ross and David H. MacFarlane in a French chateau style used by the vast railway hotels across Canada. The Fort Garry is one of Winnipeg’s landmarks and was built by the Grand Trunk Pacific Railroad to serve as a hotel for the nearby Union Station. The GTPR was nationalised in 1923 as the Canadian National Railways.

hotel

Ross & MacFarlane modelled the hotel on the Chateau Laurier in Ottawa and it was named after the nearby Hudson Bay Company post. The building has all the key hallmarks of the grand Canadian hotel: the steep roofline with dormer windows; the turrets; external decoration; and the massive scale.

The interior of the hotel is as opulent as the exterior is grand. The ornate main dining room is double height with an elaborately decorated ceiling (above). The room is expressed externally as a large bow.