Îlot-Trafalgar-Gleneagles facts for kids
The Îlot-Trafalgar-Gleneagles is a special historic area in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. It's located on Côte-des-Neiges Road, on the western side of Mount Royal. This area is known for its beautiful old buildings.
In 2002, the Quebec government officially recognized this area as a historic site. This means it's protected because of its important past. There are four main buildings here:
- The Gleneagles, a large building finished in 1929. It was designed by architects Ross and Macdonald in a style called Scottish Baronial.
- The Trafalgar Building, built in 1931. It has between seven and twelve floors and is built in the Château Style.
- The Thompson House, built in 1907.
- The Sparrow House, built in 1910.
When the area was named a historic site in 2002, the Thompson and Sparrow houses were almost torn down. A company wanted to build a tall, 10-story tower where these homes stood. But the Quebec government stopped the plan just days before the mayor at the time, Pierre Bourque, was going to approve it. Besides protecting the Îlot-Trafalgar-Gleneagles, the government also worked to make the protected area around Mount Royal bigger to include this important site.
The Gleneagles Building
The Gleneagles building is located at 3940-3946 Côte-des-Neiges Road. It was built between 1929 and 1930 and has between six and thirteen floors. The land it stands on was first sold by a group called the Sulpicians in 1929 to a builder named Frederick Walter Dakin.
Later that same year, a company called Investors Development Co. Limited bought the land. Then, it was transferred to Gleneagles Investment Co. Limited. This company owned the Gleneagles building from 1929 until 1987. At that time, the building was sold to a real estate company called Blason. It was then changed from apartments into condos.
The outside walls of the Gleneagles building are made of dark brown brick. The top floors have special decorative features like crow-stepped gables (stair-shaped roof edges), parapets (low protective walls), and balustrades (rows of small posts supporting a railing).
