Description:

417 Bloor Street West is a 2.5 storey, detached Edwardian house located on the south side of Bloor Street West between Sussex Mews and Robert Street in the Harbord Village neighbourhood of Toronto. 417 Bloor Street West was designed by Robert Balmer McGiffin in 1907 and completed by 1908.

In the mid-2010s, the gable of 417 Bloor Street West was parged with a cement-like material.  

417 Bloor Street West is the only surviving houseform building within the block bounded by Bloor Street West, Spadina Avenue, Sussex Avenue, and Robert Street. 

Robert Balmer McGiffin (Architect): 

417 Bloor Street West was designed by Robert Balmer McGiffin (1873-1945) in 1907 and completed by 1908. 417 Bloor Street West is one of McGiffin's first architectural designs in Toronto. 

Robert Balmer McGiffin was the son of Captain John S. McGiffin - the commodore of the fleet of the Niagara Navigation Company. During his architectural education, he articled with Edward James Lennox between 1896-1899; then worked as a draftsman for David Roberts between 1899 and 1900 and for Frederick Henry Herbert between 1900 and 1902. McGiffin was active in the Toronto and Windsor areas of Ontario, as well as in Sidney (Nova Scotia), New York City (USA), and San Francisco (USA). 

McGiffin's best known Toronto area building is likely the Armadale Estate / Sifton Mansion (1923) which was constructed for Sir Clifford Sifton (1861-1929) at 318 Lawrence Avenue East in North York. The Armadale Estate is now part of the Toronto French School campus. Other buildings that Robert Balmer McGiffin designed in the Toronto area, include: St. Cyprian's Anglican Church (1906) at Manning Avenue and Follis Avenue in Seaton Village; the John S. McGiffin House (1907) at 15 Dunbar Road in Rosedale; and the Morningside Presbyterian Church (1922) at Morningside Avenue and Kennedy Avenue in Scarborough. 

Col. Dr. Frederick William Marlow and Family (First Occupants):

The first occupants of 417 Bloor Street West were Col. Dr. Frederick William Marlow (1877-1936) and family, who lived here from its construction in 1907/1908 until 1938/1939. 

Col. Dr. Frederick William Marlow was born in Blackstock (ON) in 1877 and graduated from the Trinity Medical School (Toronto) in 1900.  He joined the Canadian Army Medical Corps this same year (1900) and became a Fellow of the Royal College of Surgeons in 1903. While in England, Dr. Marlow studied the volunteer ambulance service and was appointed a commander of one of the dressing stations at King Edward VII's coronation. 

During World War I, Dr. Marlow served as the Chief Medical Inspector of the Canadian Army Medical Corps and attained the rank of Colonel. As part of his role, Col. Dr. Marlow travelled across Canada and drafted a report - issued in 1916/1917 - for improving the efficiency and work of the Canadian Army Medical Corps, both in Canada and overseas. He also served as the Director of Medical Services for Military District Number 2, which included the physical assessments and training of enlistees and military staff in much of Ontario (including the districts of Toronto, Hamilton, Peel, Niagara, Muskoka, French River, etc.). 

Following World War I, Col. Dr. Marlow served as the President of the Ontario Medical Association between 1919 and 1920 and later as the President of The Academy of Medicine of Toronto in 1928. Col. Dr. Marlow's specialties included surgery, gynaecology, obstetrics, urology, and the prevention of venereal disease. He taught as an Associate Professor of Gynaecology at the University of Toronto. Col. Dr. Marlow also advocated that venereal diseases were preventable, but only if their spread was fought with a sensible strategy (Purvis 2003, 328). Col. Dr. Marlow reportedly opposed the reorganization and restructuring of clinical medical education during the early 1920s (Fedunkiw 2005, 73).

Dr. Marlow married Florence Elizabeth Walton (1877-unknown) in 1903. The Marlows' daughter - Dorothy Parr Marlow (1907-1916) - died in childhood. Further research is required to discern if the Marlows had other children. 

Dr. Marlow died in Toronto in 1936. His funeral was well attended, including by Dr. Herbert A. Bruce (1868-1963) - then the Lieutenant-Governor of Ontario.

Dr. Marlow bequeathed 1/3rd of his estate to The Academy of Medicine of Toronto.  $96 000 of this went to sponsor the Marlow Lectures, which provided an annual honorarium of $6000 for speakers to provide graduate-level medical lectures in the fields of gynaecology and obstetrics.  The first Marlow Lecture was in 1953 and the series was still active annually - with its 63rd lecture - as of 2015.

Florence Elizabeth Marlow - Col. Dr. Marlow's widow - continued living at 417 Bloor Street West until 1938 / early 1939. 

Later Occupants and Uses: 

As of September 1939, 417 Bloor Street West housed the Academy of Music Branch of the Toronto Conservatory of Music, after its Spadina Road location was sold. The Conservatory Branch remained here until the mid-to-late 1940s.

By 1950, 417 Bloor Street West had been divided into offices for various physicians and dentists.  417 Bloor Street West remained associated with various medical practices through the late 1960s (and potentially later - further research is required regarding this). As of 1969, 417 Bloor Street West was home to The Pollock Clinic, which was run by physicians Dr. Maurice Pollock, Dr. Oscar J. Pollock, and Dr. Ira Pollock.

The ground floor of 417 Bloor Street West has - as of the early 21st century - been converted into a small commercial space, which has most recently housed bubble tea and frozen yogurt cafés. The upstairs space(s) appears to have been renovated for office space.

(Research by Adam Wynne).

• Architect - R.B. McGiffin  <-- More buildings by this architect.