Leslie Raymond Fairn was a Canadian architect whose career is notable for its longevity and for the range of styles it encompassed, including Beaux Arts and Modernism

Modern architecture

Modern architecture is generally characterized by simplification of form and creation of ornament from the structure and theme of the building. It is a term applied to an overarching movement, with its exact definition and scope varying widely...

. Most of his work was completed in Maritime Canada.

Biography

He was born in Waterville

Waterville, Nova Scotia

Waterville is a Canadian community in Kings County, Nova Scotia.Located on the Cornwallis River, the community is located 15 kilometres west of Kentville and is home to the Waterville/Kings County Municipal Airport, a Michelin tire factory, as well as the provincial youth detention facility.As of...

, Nova Scotia

Nova Scotia

Nova Scotia is one of Canada's three Maritime provinces and is the most populous province in Atlantic Canada. The name of the province is Latin for "New Scotland," but "Nova Scotia" is the recognized, English-language name of the province. The provincial capital is Halifax. Nova Scotia is the...

, the oldest of three children of W. H. and Laura (Lyons) Fairn. His father was a schoolteacher. He was married twice, first to Bessie Maude (Tupper) Fairn (1880–1918 ) who died of Spanish Influenza and second to Ethel Elizabeth (Hutchinson) Fairn (1900–1982). He had two daughters from his first marriage and five children from his second.

He attended Acadia University

Acadia University

Acadia University is a predominantly undergraduate university located in Wolfville, Nova Scotia, Canada with some graduate programs at the master's level and one at the doctoral level...

 and later studied architecture in Boston, later apprenticing with Edward Elliot in Halifax. Beginning about 1901, he earned a living as Principal of Drawing and Manual Training at Horton College (Acadia University) in Wolfville. One of his first commissions was the Kings County Courthouse

Kings County Museum

The Kings County Museum is a museum located in Kentville, Nova Scotia, Canada exploring the history of Kings County, Nova Scotia. It is housed in the restored 1903 Kings County Courthouse. The Museum hosts a variety of permanent and changing displays about Kings County...

, completed in nearby Kentville in 1903, and in 1904 he moved to Aylesford

Aylesford

Aylesford is a village and civil parish on the River Medway in Kent, 4 miles NW of Maidstone in England.Originally a small riverside settlement, the old village comprises around 60 houses, many of which were formerly shops. One pub, a Post Office and four small independent shops remain...

 where he began to practice full time. He became a charter member of the Royal Architectural Institute of Canada

Royal Architectural Institute of Canada

The Royal Architectural Institute of Canada , founded in 1907, is a Canadian association representing over 3,600 architects, and faculty and graduates of Canadian Schools of Architecture.RAIC is the voice for architecture and its practice in Canada...

 (RAIC) in 1907 and was made a Fellow in 1939.. He was also a founder of the Nova Scotia Association of Architects (NSAA).

In 1932 he moved to Wolfville where he continued to practice until his death at the age of 96. around 1946 he opened an office in Halifax which was managed by his son Laird L. Fairn. This company handled large projects and was known as Leslie R. Fairn & Associates.

His career lasted 65 years, earning him the unofficial title of dean of Nova Scotia architects.
His style ranged from Beaux Arts to Richardsonian Romanesque

Richardsonian Romanesque

Richardsonian Romanesque is a style of Romanesque Revival architecture named after architect Henry Hobson Richardson, whose masterpiece is Trinity Church, Boston , designated a National Historic Landmark...

 to Classical Revival and Modernism.

His brother, Clifford William Fairn, also practiced architecture, partnering with Charles Hay and designing several schools in Calgary between 1911 and 1914.

Nova Scotia

• Kings County Courthouse, now Kings County Museum
  Kings County Museum
  The Kings County Museum is a museum located in Kentville, Nova Scotia, Canada exploring the history of Kings County, Nova Scotia. It is housed in the restored 1903 Kings County Courthouse. The Museum hosts a variety of permanent and changing displays about Kings County...
  
  (1903)
• Digby County Court House (1910)
• West Highlands School, Amherst (1911)
• Administration Building, Acadia University, Wolfville (1924)
• Dominion Public Building, Amherst (Beaux Arts, 1936)
• Annapolis Royal Town Hall Memorial Building (Classic Revival, 1922)
• Halifax Public Library (1951)
• Henry Hicks Academic Administration Building, Dalhousie University, Halifax (1951, with E. W. Haldenby)
• Killam Memorial Library, Dalhousie University, Halifax (1971)

New Brunswick

• Northumberland County Courthouse (Richardsonian Romanesque, 1913)
• Highfield Street United Baptist Church, Moncton, New Brunswick (English Gothic and Greek, 1923)

Prince Edward Island

• Robertson Library, University of Prince Edward Island, Charlottetown (1973, completed posthumously)

Further reading

• Wayde Brown, "Modernism and Regionalism: Influences on the Work of Leslie Fairn". Mar. 1989 (14:1), p. 14-18.
• Wayde Brown, "Modernism and Regionalism: Themes in the Work of Leslie Fairn," Journal of the Society for the Study of Architecture in Canada 14/1 [1989], 14-18.