House of the Week: $8 million for a deluxe Arts and Crafts home steps from Lake Ontario
ADDRESS: 412 Lake Front
NEIGHBOURHOOD: The Beach
AGENTS: Thomas D. Neal, Royal LePage Estate Realty and Sam Mcdadi, ReMax Performance Realty
PRICE: $8,000,000
THE PLACE: This massive house on the water boasts a 270-degree panoramic view of the lake, making its vibe more island than urban. Built in the 1920s, the Arts and Crafts-style home underwent two years and $4 million worth of renovations to turn a rundown hodgepodge of small apartments into a single-family dwelling.
BRAGGING RIGHTS: With surveillance equipment, two panic rooms and an underground tunnel to the garage, you’d have plenty of escape options in a Jodi Foster-Forest Whitaker-style standoff (or you could just offer to house your friends’ valuables).
BIG SELLING POINT: Rather than tearing down the apartments and building anew, the owner—reportedly a businessman who splits his time between Canada and the U.S.—went to great lengths to restore the Tudor and Arts and Crafts details found beneath the years of neglect. Additionally, renovating rather than rebuilding allowed the owner to keep the close proximity to the water (new codes would prevent that), leaving the beach literally at the doorstep.
POSSIBLE DEAL BREAKER: The house may be 7,100 square feet, but there isn’t much space between you and your neighbours (although the vastness of the lake should help ease the pain of the squished side yards).
BY THE NUMBERS: • $8,000,000 • $25,000 (approximately) in property taxes • 7,100 square feet • 5 bathrooms • 4 bedrooms • 4 storeys • 3 fireplaces • 2 panic rooms • 1 elevator • 1 wine-tasting room • 1 putting green • 1 swimming pool • 1 underground tunnel connecting house to garage
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