The History of McGill University's Buildings

Description

The Prince of Wales Terrace, named in honour of the visit of the Prince of Wales, was commissioned in 1860 by Sir George Simpson. The prestigious Terrace, once located on the north side of Sherbrooke Street at the corner of McTavish Street, consisted of a row of nine houses which presented a unified, Montreal limestone facade in the Classical Greek style. Doric columns, pilasters, window details, and pedimented porticoes were repeated uniformly on the exterior of each house with a pediment emphasizing the centre of the structure. The east and west ends were of brick and did not continue the themes of the facade. The interiors of all of the houses were as elegant as the exterior. In 1890, Sir William Macdonald, one of McGill's greatest benefactors, took up residence at number 3, Prince of Wales Terrace, which remained in his family until the building's destruction. Another resident of the Terrace was Sir William Peterson, a principal of McGill for whom Peterson Hall was named. In the late 1950s, the two easternmost units of the Prince of Wales Terrace were demolished to make way for the Royal Embassy Hotel. In 1971, McGill, who by that time owned the remaining houses, decided to use the site for the new Samuel Bronfman Building, and so the Prince of Wales Terrace was demolished.