House of the Week: $3.6 million for a Cabbagetown heritage home with a rooftop hot tub

Address: 333 Wellesley Street East
Neighbourhood: Cabbagetown Agent: Paul Maranger, Christian Vermast, and Sameer Ismail, Sotheby’s International Realty Canada Price: $3,595,000 Previously sold for: $1,357,500, in 2015, prior to renovation Last renovated: 2020

The place

A three-bed, six-bath detached near Parliament and Wellesley. This place, built circa 1878, received official heritage status in 2004. On the outside, it’s got a charming red-brick Victorian façade, but the interiors—which were updated during a recent reno—combine contemporary design with Old Hollywood glamour.

The history

In 1879, a boutique shop owner named Elizabeth Cuthbert moved into the home. Forty years later, around 1920, a farmer from Shelburne, Ont. bought the place with his wife and son. The home stayed in the family for nearly a century.

In 2015, a doctor and finance professional bought it for $1,357,500. At the time, it had a brown stucco façade, worn-out carpeting and dated floor tiles.

The couple originally wanted to build an ultra-modern home on the property, but over the course of the project, a bunch of their plans were rejected by Toronto Heritage Preservation Services, including building a rooftop pool. They settled for refurbishing the façade, creating a modern entertainment space inside, rebuilding the back of the home and adding a rooftop hot tub in lieu of a pool.

In 2019, contractors stripped the stucco off the façade and replaced it with red heritage-style brick. Inside, they gutted the place, replaced the flooring and gave it some Old Hollywood-style decor, with glass fireplaces, gold-plated light fixtures and marble-style porcelain. Out back, they built a modern glass and steel exterior, since heritage requirements didn’t apply to the rear of the home.

Last year, the place won a restoration prize from the Cabbagetown Preservation Association for “enhancing the architectural integrity” of the neighbourhood’s streetscape.

The sellers, for their part, are relocating to Hamilton for work.

The tour

During the reno, the contractors removed a drop ceiling in the living room, which exposed an ornate plaster medallion dating back to the late 19th century. The designer, Margaret Roman of Maggee Gibson Design Inc., reconstructed the medallion and added a matching ribbon pattern to the fringes of the ceiling:

There are heated porcelain floors and 10-foot ceilings throughout the main floor:

The 200-square-foot kitchen has quartz countertops:

This bar area has a wine fridge and a built-in coffee maker:

The main floor powder room has dark purple walls with black and gold accents:

In the living room, there’s a gas fireplace and large sliding doors that open to the backyard:

Here’s the second-floor landing. The designer laid the oak floors in a diagonal pattern to make this part of the house feel wider:

The home office is furnished in a regal “Louis XIV” style:

Here’s the 230-square-foot master bedroom, which has a large window overlooking the backyard:

There’s a 130-square-foot walk-in closet connected to the master bedroom:

The master ensuite bathroom has marble-style porcelain floors:

There’s a skylight on the third floor, which was designed as an entertainment space. It has a guest suite, two bathrooms and a kitchenette:

The sitting room is designed for party hosting. The kitchenette even has a dishwasher for the wine glasses:

The sellers added a hot tub to the third floor:

Here’s one of the third-floor bathrooms, which has colourful penny tiles designed to match some of the furniture in the sitting room:

Here’s the 160-square-foot guest suite:

There’s a porcelain tub and shower in the ensuite bathroom:

The basement has heated porcelain floors. The sellers used this space as a yoga room:

There’s a 200-square-foot home gym with rubber floors down there, too:

And an eight-person steam room:

The basement shower has porcelain walls and marble floors:

Here’s the back of the house. Notice the glass and steel design:

The backyard carport is accessible through a sliding gate in the laneway:

Big selling point

The third-floor living room and patio are the place for post-Covid entertaining. In the meantime, the basement sauna and hot tub might help the buyers survive winter lockdown.

By the numbers

• $3,595,000
• $11,814 in property taxes
• 4,366 square feet
• 3 bedrooms
• 6 bathrooms
• 2 fireplaces
• 1 carport