The Globe and Mail

As a rule, I admire modernist houses most of all, and the architects who create the best ones. But there are exceptions to every rule. In my book, one is Gordon Ridgely. Mr. Ridgely is a tall, stout, complex man who designs houses for Toronto's most exclusive clientele, the gruesomely rich. The mansions he provides for them are masterpieces of the exacting art of historical architecture: true to the Georgian manner — among the best and most durable of all premodern styles — they are elegant in detail, and imposing without a whiff of pretension or show-offishness. Last week, talking the art-historical lingo that is Mr. Ridgely's mother tongue, we lunched at the York Club, where he's a long-standing member (speaking of exclusive). We talked about what fascinates him, and what prompted him to change from a young modernist, fresh out of the University of Toronto architecture school, into a period designer.