The Bouthillier Apartments at 285-287-289 Clarence Street

By Nancy Miller Chenier

Only a few three-storey apartments are left in Lowertown East from King Edward Avenue to Cobourg Street. In the late 1960s, the widescale demolitions as part of urban renewal greatly reduced their number. 

One notable exception is 285-287-289 Clarence Street, a red brick building with multiple balconies displaying pot belly railings. It initially provided three families with private domestic living in a vertical space. In 2008, after renovations to reflect its late Victorian origins, it was advertised as a five-unit apartment building.

Unravelling the background of this striking building is difficult. Land registry records suggest that in 1895 Henry Newell Bate owned the whole of Lot 11 on the north side of Clarence. Bate, one of Ottawa’s early millionaires with extensive real estate holdings especially in Sandy Hill, gradually sold portions of the lot to various individuals. The registry records are not clearly discernible for many transactions on this westerly part of the lot. Ottawa city directories and fire insurance plans indicate that the building was constructed by 1903 with occupants in all three units. What is clear from registry records is that in 1909, Eugene Bouthillier purchased the building and moved into 289 Clarence. 

Eugene Bouthillier was born in 1866 in Laprairie, Quebec, and the 1891 census records him in Montreal working as a carpenter. He married Delia Marsan a few years later and together they raised a nephew, Albert Bouthillier, as an adopted son. By 1901, now listed as a contractor, he was living with his small family in Lowertown at 62 St. Andrew Street. The Ottawa Citizen notes that in 1903, he offered to move a building to clear for the opening of Barrett’s Lane, now Parent Street, adjacent to his home. In 1906, he sold his St. Andrew property to Lasalle Gravelle and moved to 59 Clarence. 

Over the years, Eugene Bouthillier was involved in multiple building projects, on his own and in partnership with other contractors, especially Arthur Toms and Alfred Slack. The contracts appeared to be mainly for stone, brick, and masonry.  The work included institutions such as separate schools (St Joseph, Ste Agatha), the Bell Telephone building on Queen Street, the Monument Nationale on Dalhousie Street, and the Rideau Ward fire station on Sussex Drive in New Edinburgh. He also obtained permits for various private dwellings in Lowertown, Sandy Hill, and Centretown.

Shortly after his arrival in Ottawa, Eugene engaged in political activities to support the local Liberal party. He was an early member of the Belcourt Club, an organization inaugurated in 1904 with Napoleon A. Belcourt, Member of Parliament and Senator, as its patron. This French-Canadian political club organized banquets, river cruises, musical events, and lectures for several hundred members. By 1907, Eugene was serving on the executive as a ward director.  During the 1908 federal election, when the Liberal Party, led by Sir Wilfrid Laurier, was being challenged by Robert Borden’s Conservative Party, Eugene obtained permission for the erection of temporary stands to accommodate open air political meetings at Market Square, Bingham Square, and Anglesea Square. 

Eugene Bouthillier occupied an apartment in the Clarence Street building until his sudden death in 1913. Delia and Albert sold the building in 1929 to Ovila Scantland as an investment property. Delia eventually moved to Montreal where she died in 1943. Albert raised a family and worked as a brick layer from his home on Beechwood Avenue until his death in 1949. The Bouthillier family ownership covered only two decades of Lowertown history but for more than a century, this red brick apartment building has stood as a landmark in the community.