James Balfour, architect

Architect

An architect is a person trained in the planning, design and oversight of the construction of buildings. To practice architecture means to offer or render services in connection with the design and construction of a building, or group of buildings and the space within the site surrounding the...

.

Son of Peter Balfour, Hamilton alderman

Alderman

An alderman is a member of a municipal assembly or council in many jurisdictions founded upon English law. The term may be titular, denoting a high-ranking member of a borough or county council, a council member chosen by the elected members themselves rather than by popular vote, or a council...

 and carpenter

Carpenter

A carpenter is a skilled craftsperson who works with timber to construct, install and maintain buildings, furniture, and other objects. The work, known as carpentry, may involve manual labor and work outdoors....

. 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

New York

New York is a state in the Northeastern region of the United States. It is the nation's third most populous state. New York is bordered by New Jersey and Pennsylvania to the south, and by Connecticut, Massachusetts and Vermont to the east...

 for several years. First professional mention of Balfour in Hamilton is in the 1876-7 city directory

City directory

A city directory is a listing of residents, streets, businesses, organizations or institutions, giving their location in a city. Antedating telephone directories, they have been in use for centuries....

. 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

Henry Hobson Richardson

Henry Hobson Richardson was a prominent American architect who designed buildings in Albany, Boston, Buffalo, Chicago, Pittsburgh, and other cities. The style he popularized is named for him: Richardsonian Romanesque...

 of the United States

United States

The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

.

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

York Boulevard (Hamilton, Ontario)

York Boulevard is a Lower City arterial road in Hamilton, Ontario, Canada. Formerly known as Highway 2 and Highway 6,starts off in Burlington, Ontario at Plains Road West as a two-way arterial road that wraps around and over the Hamilton Harbour and enters the city of Hamilton in the West-end past...

 (1888, demolished ), both in Hamilton, Ontario

Hamilton, Ontario

Hamilton is a port city in the Canadian province of Ontario. Conceived by George Hamilton when he purchased the Durand farm shortly after the War of 1812, Hamilton has become the centre of a densely populated and industrialized region at the west end of Lake Ontario known as the Golden Horseshoe...

.
Balfour was also successful outside of Hamilton. In 1878-1882 designed and oversaw construction of an all-girl school, Alma College (St. Thomas)

Alma College (St. Thomas)

Alma College was a girls private school in St. Thomas, Ontario in Canada. Built in 1878, the school was in operation between 1881 and 1988. The college closed in 1988 in part due to a teacher's strike. Primary school and music classes were still taught on campus until 1994...

 (1878-81) and the additions (1888-89), 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.

Tribute

The Balfour neighbourhood on the Hamilton Mountain was named after him. It is bounded by Fennell Avenue East

Fennell Avenue (Hamilton, Ontario)

Fennell Avenue, is an Upper City arterial road in Hamilton, Ontario, Canada. It starts of just West Garth Street on the West mountain and is a two-way street throughout that extends eastward and ends at Mountain Brow Boulevard, a road that wraps around the edge of the Niagara Escarpment on...

 (north), Mohawk Road East

Mohawk Road (Hamilton, Ontario)

Mohawk Road, is an Upper City arterial road in Hamilton, Ontario, Canada. It is a two-way street throughout that starts just West of Highway 403 & Meadowlands and travels eastward linking up with the Lincoln M. Alexander Parkway. Mohawk Road east of Highway 403 resumes again in front of Iroquoia...

 (south), Upper James Street

Upper James Street (Hamilton, Ontario)

Upper James Street, is an Upper City arterial road in Hamilton, Ontario, Canada. It starts at the Claremont Access, a mountain-access road in the north, and extends southward towards the John C. Munro Hamilton International Airport where it then changes its name to the Hamilton Port Dover Plain...

 (west) and Upper Wellington Street

Upper Wellington Street (Hamilton, Ontario)

Upper Wellington Street is an Upper City arterial road in Hamilton, Ontario, Canada. It starts at the Jolley Cut, a mountain-access road to the north, beside Sam Lawrence Park and extends southward past Rymal Road where it ends at the Mount Hamilton Cemetery...

(east). Notable landmarks in this neighbourhood include the Mountain Plaze Mall and Norwood Park.

This information is completely false. The Balfour neighbourhood is not named after James Balfour the Architect, but another unrelated Balfour, a well-to-do 19th century Hamilton merchant who build a large home on the mountain brow.