House of the Week: $1.2 million for a Moss Park Victorian with a dramatic central staircase

Address: 183 Seaton Street
Neighbourhood: Moss Park
Agent: Lance Stoute, Property Edge Real Estate Services Inc., Brokerage
Price: $1,199,000
Previously sold for: $999,000, in 2014

The place

A 136-year-old three-bedroom house in Moss Park.

The history

This bay and gable style townhouse was built in 1880. A century later, it underwent a major renovation by architect Lawrence Dodd. A previous set of owners updated the kitchen in 2012.

Here’s the living room, with a marble fireplace:

Staircases don’t come much more conspicuous than this:

The dining area is next to the kitchen:

And here’s the kitchen, updated in 2012 with quartz countertops and cherry wood cabinetry:

There’s one bedroom on the second floor, and this is it:

The second-floor bathroom has some interesting design elements, like that in-floor tub. The big round thing is a closet:

There are two bedrooms on the third floor. This one is being used as a family room:

And here’s the other third-floor bedroom, with a wall of exposed brick:

And the neatly decked and trellised backyard:

Big selling point

If not the backyard oasis, or the old Victorian curb appeal, the standout feature here is the fact that this home is an end unit in a row of houses, meaning it has more windows than its neighbours and fewer walls in common with them.

Possible deal breaker

Though the curved staircase allows light to flood each floor, it’s also one of the first things one notices on each floor. Buyers with more subtle design sensibilities will probably have to move on:

By the numbers

• $1,199,000
• $5,180.44 in taxes (2016)
• 3 bedrooms
• 3 storeys
• 2 bathrooms
• 1 fireplace
• 1 giant staircase

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