02/07/2025
Tommy Douglas lived in the left wing and John Diefenbaker lived in the right wing of “The Strathcona” — at least that’s what longtime tenants seem to recall.
Many of Ottawa’s (and Canada’s) movers and shakers have resided in Sandy Hill’s Strathcona Apartments ever since plans for the massive building were unveiled in 1926 announcing “the largest and finest apartment house in Ontario” featuring such luxuries as electronic refrigeration, continuous hot water, elevators, garbage incinerators -- and an underground garage with car jockeys to park and retrieve cars.
(Historian Ken Clavette shared the fascinating history of the legendary Strathcona Apartments in his “Ken’s Bygone Sandy Hill” column in Sandy Hill’s community newspaper “Image”. See link below.)
The timing of the new luxury apartment building's grand opening could not have come at a worse time, on the eve of the 1929 stock market crash and the beginning of a decade-long depression.
After its eventual foreclosure in 1942, Sam Berger stepped up as the first of two “saviours” who would come to the rescue of the Strathcona over the course of the twentieth century.
Berger, born on King Edward Avenue and one of eight children of an Ottawa rabbi, had attended York Street School and Lisgar Collegiate.
It was while working at a law practice that Berger, although broke himself, borrowed enough money to put a down payment on the Strathcona and begin its resurrection.
It was a real estate deal that would change the life of the young Sam Berger, who would eventually own the Ottawa Rough Riders and Montreal Alouettes as well as serving as President of the CFL
By 1992, the Strathcona needed rescuing again. In the three decades since Berger had sold the apartment complex in 1961, the building had deteriorated badly.
This time it was building's current owner, renowned heritage conservationist Sandy Smallwood who took the leap and invested big-time to lovingly restore the Strathcona Apartments to their glorious past.
Upon its unveiling almost a century ago, the Strathcona represented a dramatic move up from the smaller 3-4 floor walk-up apartments buildings, which had themselves revolutionized urban living arrangements -- beautiful examples of which still line Ottawa streets such as Metcalfe and Charlotte.
The Strathcona’s more remarkable features include monumental columns, supporting multi-level porches and an H-frame design providing for a front entrance courtyard, ploychromatic masonry and stunning art glass windows welcoming its tenants.
While the Stratchona Apartments boast luxurious units featuring up to seven rooms and multiple baths, the building, like Sandy Hill itself, is a mixed community, offering more modest studios and one-bedroom units as well.
Follow this link for Ken Clavette's full story on the legendary Strathcona Apartments in his “Ken’s Bygone Sandy Hill” column in Sandy Hill’s outstanding community newspaper “Image”:
http://home.imagesandyhill.org/2023/12/kens-bygone-sandy-hill-7
Two years ago, the Historical Society of Ottawa published a summary of interviews we conducted with Sandy Smallwood and fellow icons of Ottawa heritage preservation, Barry Padolsky and David Flemming:
https://www.historicalsocietyottawa.ca/publications/bytown-pamphlets/pamphlets-available-for-download/117-past-present-future-the-preservation-and-adaptation-of-ottawa-s-built-heritage
In 2017, Heritage Ottawa published an excellent book, From Walk-Up To High-Rise: Ottawa’s Historic Apartment Buildings”:
https://heritageottawa.org/ottawa-historic-apartment-buildings
