By Sue Stefko
(Appeared in the Glebe Report, September 2025)
In a neighbourhood full of homes of all shapes and sizes, 323 Powell is among the most unique. The stunning mid-century modern style home was designed by renowned architect Matthew Stankiewicz. He lived there from its construction in 1972 until his death from cancer in 1979. Stankiewicz was born in Poland in 1926 and studied in the United Kingdom where he briefly practiced architecture before immigrating to Canada in the early 1950s. He initially worked for the federal government, but soon launched his own firm where he quickly became a leading modernist residential architect in Ottawa.
Stankiewicz was prolific, designing vacation homes, office buildings, as well as single and multi-unit homes, primarily in Ontario and New Brunswick, but also across Canada and around the world. Some of his most recognized projects include the Canadian Government Pavilion at Expo’ 67 in Montreal, the Ukrainian Museum in Saskatoon and the Polish Embassy in Ottawa. He achieved national fame in 1965, when a home he designed was selected by Canadian Homes Magazine as ‘House of the Year’. The home was built by Minto near Parkwood Hills in Nepean, although it has since been torn down.
Stankiewicz was one of the most prominent architects who championed modernism in Ottawa. Modernism embraces function, simplicity and minimalism, while eschewing ornamentation. Some of its key tenets include ‘form follows function’ and ‘less is more’. Modernism was a conscious break from revival architecture which was more grandiose and opulent.
In Ottawa, one of the earliest communities to embrace modernism is the area now known as the Briarcliffe Heritage Conservation District. Developed between 1961 and 1969, it is the first Mid-20th Century Modern Heritage Conservation District to receive designation in Canada. The neighbourhood was built in a rocky, treed area and was focused on maintaining harmony with nature. Stankiewicz designed two of the homes in the development.
In his own home at 323 Powell, despite it being in a much more urban setting, Stankiewicz also found ways to embrace nature, through his use of wood throughout the home, large windows and inviting additional light in through five large skylights. The attention to detail is obvious, with copious amounts of built-in storage, efficient use of space, and premium materials such as tiles imported from Italy, as well as the intricate front door crafted by famous Ottawa artist James Boyd, which has its own local significance.
Boyd, known as the Kilted Warrior, was a painter, printmaker, sculptor, muralist and educator. He was most famous for developing printmaking techniques in the 1960s by compressing paint, metal and paper. Traditionally, prints are made by applying paint to metal plates, and pressing those onto paper, canvas or other materials to create identical images. However, Boyd took pains to ensure that each print he created was unique, working tirelessly to ensure that no two were the same. He was a perfectionist, who had been known to set fire to works he was unhappy with. Boyd was acclaimed around the world, and his works can be found in the Museum of Modern Art in New York, the Lugano Art Museum in Switzerland and the National Gallery of Canada. His art was vibrant, whimsical and unique, much like the artist himself.
Boyd’s doors were particularly renowned – perhaps the most famous of which are in the Public Service Alliance of Canada (PSAC) building at 233 Gilmour Street. He painstakingly spent four months carving three doors which serve as entrances to PSAC boardrooms.
1. Artist’s rendering of the plans for 323 Powell Ave – the second floor was never built.
(courtesy of Z.M. Stankiewicz Architect)
2. The ornately carved front door by local artist James Boyd, seen from inside the entryway.
Photo by George Hay of EasyAgentMedia.
3. The main living area of 323 Powell, with its natural elements of wood and stone and copious amounts of natural light.
Photo by George Hay of EasyAgentMedia.
