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Christopher Ryan: Snear Miller's downtown apartments

_ A weekly feature from Christopher Ryan , a local photographer, blogger and researcher. It appears every Friday on our blog. _

[ ![](/legacy/02512.jpg)
  ](http://ottawastart.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/12/011.jpg)
Val Cartier Apartments, in the evening of September 22, 2013. Photo by Christopher Ryan
Pictured above is the Val Cartier Apartments at 61 Cartier in the Golden Triangle. It was constructed by prolific Depression-era developer Snear Miller in 1931.

Miller constructed a number of apartment buildings, most of which remain standing today and most of which are located in Centretown. One of Miller’s earliest was the Palace Court (now Annedale Court) Apartments (1928) on Elgin, which like the Val Cartier, were designed by architect Cecil Burgess. Some of Miller’s other apartments include The Lucerne (Charlotte and Besserer, 1930), the Royal York (Lisgar, 1935), the Manhattan (Cooper, 1935), and the Kincora (Cartier and MacLaren, 1938).

In most cases, Miller commissioned local high-profile architects such as the aforementioned Cecil Burgess, Werner Noffke, and his one-time firm partner, W.C. Sylvester. Miller passed away in 1952 and his properties were divided between his daughters.
  

  

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 -- Text and photography by Christopher Ryan
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 See also:
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[
 Ottawa History Guide
](http://ottawastart.com/history.php)
  

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