http://www.laurierlounge.com/
The George Stanley residence: The childhood home of the man who designed the Canadian maple leaf flag.
As Da Michealangelo's, circa 2005
As Laurier Lounge - summer 2009 (image by Tunit on www.urbanspoon.com)
History
The home located at 1111 7th Street S.W. was built in 1908 for the Stanley family, who consisted of John Henry Stanley, manager of the Stanley Paper Co. his wife Della and their child George.
George Francis Gillman Stanley is well known in academic circles as a prominent historian and author. To the rest of Canada, he is known as the designer of the Canadian flag. He began his post secondary studies at the University of Alberta where he received a Bachelor of Arts degree. In 1929, he attended Oxford University as the Alberta Rhodes Scholar. While attending Oxford, he played for the Oxford University Ice Hockey team, and in 1931 the team won the Spengler. George returned to Canada in 1936 as the head if the history department at Mount Allison University in Sackville, New Brunswick. During World War Two, he joined the army and served as a Lieutenant with the New Brunswick Rangers, an infantry training officer in Fredericton and ended over seas as a historian at the Canadian headquarters in London. He became deputy director of the historical section and was discharged in Vancouver in 1947. The following year he came out of military retirement to help fight floods in the Fraser Valley and was on the Reserve of Officers until 1967. Dr. Stanley held the first chair in Canadian History at the University of British Columbia from 1947 to 1949. After being awarded a Guggenheim Fellowship he went to Ottawa in 1949 to research the history of the Canadian governmental policy dealing with native people. In 1949, Stanley went on to teach at the Royal Military College of Canada in Kingston Ontario, where he was dean of arts for seven years. He left RMC in 1969. At this point he returned to Mount Allison to become director of the first Canadian Studies program. While George retired from teaching in 1975, he continued to write and remained active in public life well into his nineties. In 1982, he became the 25th Lieutenant-Governor of New Brunswick and served until 1987. It was during his time serving as Lieutenant-Governor that Stanley met many members of the Royal Family as well as the Pope.
In 1976, George was made an Officer of the Order of Canada and promoted to Companion in 1994. He has received a Knight of Justice of the Order of St. John, the Canadian Forces Decoration and twelve honorary degrees. This is in addition to his four earned degrees. He was a fellow of the Royal Society of Canada and of the Royal Historical Society. In 1983 he was made an Honorary Fellow of the Royal Heraldry Society of Canada. In 1950, he was awarded the Royal Society of Canada’s Tyrrell Medal for history. In 1955 he was elected as the president of the Canadian Historical Association.
Perhaps his greatest contribution to Canada as a whole was the design of our current flag. The design of the red and white maple leaf was inspired by the simplicity of the Royal Military Colleges flag. Stanley wrote in 1964 that, “the new flag of Canada should be instantly recognizable, and simple enough so that school children could draw it.” At the bottom of a letter to the Honourable John Matheson, Stanley sketched the simple design.
from www.flagforcanada.ca
Stanley’s proposal was placed on a wall with thousands of other designs and eventually was chosen by the Liberal members of the flag committee. After being slightly modified by a government graphic artist it was officially adopted as Canada’s new flag by the House of Commons on December 15 1964 and by the senate on December 17 1964. On February 15 1965 the flag took effect after being proclaimed by H.M. Queen Elizabeth II. At the unveiling of the flag in Ottawa, George and his wife Ruth were present. George Francis Gillman Stanley died in Sackville, New Brunswick on September 13, 2002.
For more information on George Stanley see http://people.stfx.ca/lstanley/stanley/
Architecture
The house is Reminiscent of Tudor Revival, which is often referred to as Picturesque Cottage. Some of the features of this style are the steeply pitched roofs and cross-gabled plans. This particular house has examples of ornamental half timbering, located on both sides of the house in the peak of the roof. The house is a one and a half storey wood frame structure with a brick foundation and a full basement. It has a medium gabled roof with asphalt shingles, clapboard siding, a single brick chimney and flat windows. There is currently one long dormer window on the front and two short dormer windows on the rear. Wood projecting eaves, moulded frieze, moulded soffits, and flat windows. The main entrance is located in the centre of the front façade, it is a single one panel door which is slightly recessed.
Good news - the owners of the "Laurier Lounge" on 17th Avenue have taken over the Stanley House on a 10 year lease. Look for the grand re-opening in the Spring. This is great news, and a good 'Canadian' business for the house.
Link to Canadian Club news on the Stanley House
