Description of Historic Place

Built in 1913, the Wellington Square Townhouses are five three storey townhouses constructed of orange-brown brick veneer, located on the northwest corner of Pim and Wellington Streets in Sault Ste. Marie.

The Wellington Square Townhouses have been recognized for their heritage value by the City of Sault Ste. Marie, By-law 83-60.

Heritage Value

The Wellington Square Townhouses are associated with the Lake Superior Paper Company and is one of the first examples of luxury townhouses in Sault Ste. Marie, constructed in a unique architectural style and massing.

Thought to have been built by the Lake Superior Paper Company, the predecessor to St. Marys Paper, so that its executives would have proper accommodation. The townhouses were built to be luxurious accommodations for people who were “well off.” While there is no documented proof that Lake Superior Paper Company financed the construction of these units, it is known that of the twenty tenants occupying the apartments for the first seven years, the Lake Superior Paper Company employed ten.

“An up-to-date block of five houses” employing “the latest ideas in heating and plumbing” is how the local newspaper described the newly built Wellington Square Townhouses in 1913. “The houses are very commodious, some of them having as many as six or seven bedrooms.” As well, each unit had a fireplace on the main level, oak hardwood flooring, an open oak staircase leading to the second level, the occasional stained glass window and a full basement. It was the combination of these interior features which made these units luxurious living quarters.

The Wellington Square Townhouses were designed by the architectural firm of Stewart Moran and Albert McPhail as one of the first buildings of this type in Sault Ste. Marie. The townhouses are unique in their impressive massing, the use of three different styles of porch design, and the mansard roof, which made the third floor functional for bedrooms. A most unique feature of these houses is that they are not built in a straight row, as townhouses usually are, but rather on a corner lot, with the units turning the corner. As a whole, the Wellington Square Townhouses are quite successful in their massing, the height of the building is similar to those adjacent to it in the surrounding streetscape.

Sources: Sault Ste. Marie Designation By-law 83-60, Wellington Square Townhouses Designation Report.

Character-Defining Elements

Character defining elements that reflect the Wellington Square Townhouses' heritage values include the:

- building's layout and massing
- brick veneer construction with black mortar
- mansard roof
- series of modillions found along the underside of the main cornice
- words “Wellington Square” inscribed in black glass bricks in the north and easterly upper corner faces of the building
- front porches, of three different designs
- main level fireplaces
- oak hardwood flooring
- open oak staircase leading to the second level
- stained glass windows
- full basements
- varied placement of windows