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Douglas Kertland (1886-1982) was born in Toronto,
but received his architectural training in England. He returned
to Canada to work with the architect John Lyle,
but by 1926 he had established his own practice in Toronto. Kertland's
architectural work included office buildings, hospitals, banks
and residential buildings. One of his most famous projects was
the Automotive Building at the Canadian
National Exhibition, for which he won a design competition.
The evidence of Kertland's records indicates that he was a very
popular architect, chosen by many clients for building projects
in the new residential areas that developed in the twenties and
thirties. These included Forest Hill, Cedarvale, North Toronto,
Moore Park and the Poplar Plains Road area, which is the location
of this home on Russell Hill Road. Kertland's clients tended to
favour house styles that, while spacious and modern in the interior,
recalled Tudor or Georgian times on their exteriors. This house
evokes the English Arts and Crafts style, with its steep roofline
and rustic combination of stone and stucco. The tower is a picturesque
irregularity designed by the architect to express the individuality
of the owner.
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