THE 800 BLOCK, MONMOUTH ROAD (former Fourth Street)

HIRAM WALKER & SONS WORKERS TERRACES

ARCHITECT - Albert Kahn (presumed), Detroit,

Built: c. 1904

Both sides of Monmouth Road are lined with dark red brick houses for the workers at the distillery and other satellite industries in Walkerville.

The 800 block has twelve row houses with four units each. At the middle of the block are two semi-detached houses intended for the foremen and their families, all built for the Walkerville Land & Building Company which collected the rent.All are now privately owned.

The apparent sameness of the residences is misleading because, on examination, it is clear that there is a great variety of detail. Some have flat parapets, some have end gables, and others have paired frontal gables. All terraces have central open passageways leading to the rear yards.

A variety of decorative brickwork is evident, giving interesting texture to the houses and to the streetscape. While the plain shutters are not original to the buildings, the residents find them attractive and they serve to distinguish one unit from another.

Before turning eastward on Cataraqui Street, a view to the north along the 700 block of Monmouth reveals some of the early (c. 1890) frame semi-detached cottages with shared Tudoresque dormers along the west side of the 700 block. On the east side is a block of red brick semi-detached houses built c. 1893-94 and believed to be designed by Mason & Rice.

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