Francis Conroy Sullivan

Francis Conroy Sullivan

Francis Conroy Sullivan, architect (b at Kingston, Ont 2 July 1882; d at Phoenix, Ariz 4 Apr 1929). The only Canadian pupil of Frank Lloyd Wright, Sullivan designed a remarkable group of buildings, in the Prairie School style, 1911-1916, including the Connors house and the Lansdowne Park Horticulture Building, Ottawa; Sainte-Claire de Goulbourne, near Dwyer Hill, Ont; public library, Pembroke, Ont; and post offices at Stonewall, Man, and Shawville, Qué. Wright's influence was crucial for Sullivan's mature style, but there are important differences. Horizontals predominate in Wright's designs; Sullivan's strong verticals create tension within the masses. This feature has been attributed to Ontario Victorian Gothic. But it may instead stem from the classical buildings of George BROWNE in Kingston, where Sullivan grew up in an Irish family which had long been active in the building trade.