James T. Davis House

Both James and Gertrude Davis were the children of successful Irish Catholic immigrants. James T. Davis and his two elder brothers were partners in the firm founded by their father in Ottawa that ranked, "amongst the largest canal and bridge contractors on the continent". Mrs Davis was the daughter of Bernard Devlin Q.C., Counsel to Abraham Lincoln during the U.S. Civil War and afterwards the Member of Parliament for Montreal.

In the same year (1909) that work started on their showpiece mansion, Davis took a lease on the Domaine Cataraqui while he oversaw the reconstruction of the Quebec Bridge. Back in Montreal, his firm demolished the old Benjamin Hall house and started building on land that had once been part of John Redpath's 235-acre estate. Davis' new mansion was faced with red pressed brick and sandstone but was internally supported by a steel and concrete frame befitting of his firm's reputation for structural excellence.

"A Residence of Exceptional Richness..."

In her guide to the Maxwell Brothers' Archives, Irena Murray praised the Davis house as, "a residence of exceptional richness and architectural perfection which must make it one of Maxwell's greatest achievements". The contractor spared no expense to create an Arts-and-Crafts masterpiece, bringing in well-known artisans for additional flourishes. But owing to several design similarities from the portico to some of the murals, one also has to wonder if the Maxwells ever visited Buffalo and took notes from the Goodyear House?

The reception rooms include the French 18th Century Drawing Room; the English (Adam) 18th Century Reception Room; the oval Breakfast Room with furniture made to match its curves; the palm house overlooking Mountain Street; and, two Dining Rooms (one formal, one "intimate"). The billiard's room is considered to be one of the best examples of the Arts & Crafts movement in Canada with three murals painted by Maurice Cullen R.C.A., doors of stained glass, and fireplace tiles handcrafted by the Pewabic Pottery in Detroit. There was also a miniature private chapel to serve the spiritual needs of the Davis'. It was designed with, "the most delicate interior decoration, medieval in character... the tiny stained glass window was designed and executed by Archibald J. Davies," the most famous of England's Bromsgrove Guild and one of the most celebrated names in Arts & Crafts.

The staircase railing is carved from vast slabs of oak by local sculptor Félix Routhier. It led up to seven family bedrooms and the library. In the master bedroom, the carpet (since removed) was handwoven in Ireland and statuettes filled the niches in the walls. One wing of the attic on the next floor provided accommodation for the housekeeper, children's governess, and three maids. The butler lived in the raised basement next to the main pantry, extensive wine cellars and the large, modern kitchen. The house was served by an elevator and three dumbwaiters and outside was a carriage house and chauffeur's cottage.

The Devil You Know

Among those to enjoy the Davis' hospitality was a young Joachim von Ribbentrop who three decades later - to the horror of those who had come to know and like him during his time in Montreal - was sentenced to death as a war criminal at the Nuremberg Trials. But, in 1909 he was employed by Davis as a timekeeper for the Quebec Bridge project and came to know the family well. When wounded fighting for the Kaiser's army in 1916, he wrote to Davis' daughter from his hospital bed, ending the letter by saying, "give my love to your mother and all your family, and write soon! Love, Rib". By the 1930s, he had become Hitler's devoted Foreign Minister and, before he swung, the chief British prosecutor said of Ribbentrop: "No-one in history has so debauched diplomacy; no-one has been guilty of meaner treachery. But he, like the rest of [the Nazis], is just a common murderer".

McGill University

James T. Davis died in 1928 but his widow lived on here for nearly thirty more years until her death in 1955. That year, the property was purchased by McGill University and today it is home to its School of Physical and Occupational Therapy. Many of the original features described here are still in tact, including the outbuildings near to Mountain Street which have since been repurposed for student accommodation.