death_date death_place birth_place practice nationality birth_date article_title name
1917 hamilton , ontario hamilton , ontario hamilton , ontario canadian 1854 james balfour -lrb- architect -rrb-
 james balfour
james balfour -lrb- architect -rrb-

james balfour -lrb- 1854 -- 1917 -rrb- was a canadian architect .
son of peter balfour , hamilton alderman and carpenter .
educated in hamilton .
studied architecture with the famous firm of `` peddie and kniver '' in edinburgh , scotland .
before returning to hamilton he worked in new york for several years .
first professional mention of balfour in hamilton is in the 1876-7 city directory .
the house still standing at 250 james street south was one of his early designs .
his larger buildings were of the romanesque style , revived around 1870 by henry hobson richardson of the united states .
tuckett mansion , on corner of king & queen , now forms a portion of the complex known as the scottish rite .
completed in 1896 for george elias tuckett , founder of tuckett tobacco and the 27th mayor of hamilton , city hall on corner of james & york boulevard -lrb- 1888 , demolished -rrb- , both in hamilton , ontario .
balfour was also successful outside of hamilton .
in 1878-1882 designed and oversaw construction of an all-girl school , alma college -lrb- st. thomas , ontario -rrb- -lrb- 1878 -- 81 -rrb- and the additions -lrb- 1888 -- 89 -rrb- , which were destroyed by a fire on may 28 , 2008 .
in march 1887 he won the design competition for the `` detroit institute of fine arts . ''
