“After we became empty nesters, home ownership no longer made sense, so we found our perfect rental in Summerhill”

Who: Elaine Hamat and Murray Cruchley, 70 and 74 Space: An 1,800-square-foot two-bedroom apartment in Summerhill
Years spent renting: 11

Elaine: For more than two decades, we lived with our two kids in a four-bedroom home in Lytton Park. It was already more than 60 years old when we bought it in 1986, so we were itching for an overhaul by the time we became empty nesters. In 2007, we gutted it, replaced all the creaky floors and faulty plumbing, and turned it into our dream home. It was the reset we’d been wanting, but after six years, we started to think about selling. It was too big for just the two of us, and home ownership comes with so many extra costs: repairs, maintenance, property taxes, home insurance, fluctuating interest rates. Plus, home prices kept rising. We decided to take advantage of the market and sell. Our original plan was to rent for a while and then buy a condo when prices settled down.

Murray: Our first rental was a four-bedroom house in South Riverdale, which we loved but had to leave after a year because the landlord wanted it for a family member. We thought about jumping back into the market, but prices had skyrocketed by that point. Instead, we moved into a two-­bedroom apartment near the St. Lawrence Market in 2015. Seven years later, our landlord announced that he was reclaiming the unit. The lack of stability is one of the biggest downsides of renting, and we didn’t want to find ourselves in the same situation a third time, so we switched gears. We have an income property in Leslieville that we’ve rented out for decades, and we’d just finished construction on a laneway house in the backyard. We’d intended to rent it out, but after getting booted from our place again, we decided to move in, at least for a while.

Elaine: It’s a lovely space with lots of natural light, and we ended up staying for three years. But we’d always planned on renting it out, and we needed somewhere without stairs if we wanted to age in place. After being forced to leave two rentals and with no guarantee of rent control in newer buildings, we started looking at older spaces. In 2024, we found one: a purpose-built rental building in Summerhill. There, we wouldn’t be asked to leave, and our rent increases would be dictated by the province.

Murray: The building itself is a marvel. It reminds me of one of those classic New York apartments. In the lobby, there are large arched windows with wrought iron inserts, medieval-looking chandeliers and a ceiling mural designed by the Group of Seven artist J. E. H. MacDonald. It’s a registered heritage building from the 1920s, so it comes with its share of quirks. But, aside from an unreliable elevator and occasional plumbing issues, we love it.

Elaine: We call it our little Paris apartment, even though the unit is spacious. It has the most charming architecture, with arched passageways, parquet floors and large windows. But the best feature is the wood-burning fireplace in the living room, which comes with an alcove on the wall to stack wood. I love vintage shopping, we have lots of artist friends and I’m a crafter myself, so the place is full of art pieces and little knick-knacks. We temper the eclectic vibe with modern touches, like the eight Tom Dixon pendant lights that we bought individually and then grouped to create a funky dining room fixture. Murray built a custom electrical box in the ceiling to hold them properly. He designed a lot of our furniture, including the coffee table. And he made our dining table out of salvaged wood from a city park. It’s huge, like most of our furniture, which we originally bought to suit larger homes. When we moved in, we were worried that they might crowd the space, but we’re happy with the fit.

Related: This couple downsized into an elegant two-storey condo—and their daughter handled interior design