House of the Week: $1.8 million for a Victorian home across from the Thompson Hotel
ADDRESS : 50 Stewart Street
NEIGHBOURHOOD : Waterfront Communities-The Island
AGENT : Craig William Emond, Model Suites Realty Inc., Brokerage
PRICE : $1,815,000
THE PLACE : Mining magnate Kevin J. van Niekerk bought this four-bedroom, 1880s-era home in 2008 and treated it to a down-to-the-bricks renovation. The upgrades included a top-floor master retreat, a custom kitchen, a built-in stereo system and an outdoor saltwater swimming pool.
BRAGGING RIGHTS : Victorian semis may be ubiquitous elsewhere in the city, but they stand out among the trendy glass-and-steel constructions of the King West area (the Thompson Hotel, for instance, is right across the street).
BIG SELLING POINT: A downtown property with a private pool? It’s practically an urban myth.
POSSIBLE DEAL BREAKER : Typical of city Victorians, this home is only 19 feet wide (so getting a king-size bed up to the third-floor master suite may be a challenge).
BY THE NUMBERS :
• $1,815,000
• $9,156 in property taxes (2011)
• 2,700 square feet (including lower level)
• 4 bedrooms
• 3 baths
• 3 storeys (plus a finished basement)
• 2-car parking
• 1 gas fireplace
• 1 outdoor saltwater swimming pool
159637 In the backyard, a cedar deck, Brazilian cherrywood fencing, built-in planters and a heated saline swimming pool 50 Stewart Street 50 Stewart Street https://torontolife.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/08/aug12Stewart12-96x96.jpg https://torontolife.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/08/aug12Stewart12.jpg https://torontolife.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/08/aug12Stewart12.jpg 624 415 [] https://torontolife.com/real-estate/house-of-the-week-50-stewart-street/slide/aug12stewart12/ aug12stewart12 0 0
159636 The laundry room in the basement 50 Stewart Street 50 Stewart Street https://torontolife.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/08/aug12Stewart11-96x96.jpg https://torontolife.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/08/aug12Stewart11.jpg https://torontolife.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/08/aug12Stewart11.jpg 624 415 [] https://torontolife.com/real-estate/house-of-the-week-50-stewart-street/slide/aug12stewart11/ aug12stewart11 0 0
159630 The basement has a wet bar and a large living room 50 Stewart Street 50 Stewart Street https://torontolife.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/08/aug12Stewart5-96x96.jpg https://torontolife.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/08/aug12Stewart5.jpg https://torontolife.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/08/aug12Stewart5.jpg 624 415 [] https://torontolife.com/real-estate/house-of-the-week-50-stewart-street/slide/aug12stewart5/ aug12stewart5 0 0
159635 The second-floor bathroom 50 Stewart Street 50 Stewart Street https://torontolife.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/08/aug12Stewart10-96x96.jpg https://torontolife.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/08/aug12Stewart10.jpg https://torontolife.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/08/aug12Stewart10.jpg 624 415 [] https://torontolife.com/real-estate/house-of-the-week-50-stewart-street/slide/aug12stewart10/ aug12stewart10 0 0
159631 The third bedroom, second floor 50 Stewart Street 50 Stewart Street https://torontolife.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/08/aug12Stewart6-96x96.jpg https://torontolife.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/08/aug12Stewart6.jpg https://torontolife.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/08/aug12Stewart6.jpg 624 415 [] https://torontolife.com/real-estate/house-of-the-week-50-stewart-street/slide/aug12stewart6/ aug12stewart6 0 0
159632 The second of the home’s four bedrooms, second floor 50 Stewart Street 50 Stewart Street https://torontolife.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/08/aug12Stewart7-96x96.jpg https://torontolife.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/08/aug12Stewart7.jpg https://torontolife.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/08/aug12Stewart7.jpg 624 415 [] https://torontolife.com/real-estate/house-of-the-week-50-stewart-street/slide/aug12stewart7/ aug12stewart7 0 0
159634 The master ensuite has an egg-shaped free-standing tub and a separate enclosed glass shower 50 Stewart Street 50 Stewart Street https://torontolife.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/08/aug12Stewart9-96x96.jpg https://torontolife.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/08/aug12Stewart9.jpg https://torontolife.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/08/aug12Stewart9.jpg 624 415 [] https://torontolife.com/real-estate/house-of-the-week-50-stewart-street/slide/aug12stewart9/ aug12stewart9 0 0
159633 The master suite takes up the entire third floor and has a separate dressing room and a ensuite bathroom 50 Stewart Street 50 Stewart Street https://torontolife.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/08/aug12Stewart8-96x96.jpg https://torontolife.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/08/aug12Stewart8.jpg https://torontolife.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/08/aug12Stewart8.jpg 624 415 [] https://torontolife.com/real-estate/house-of-the-week-50-stewart-street/slide/aug12stewart8/ aug12stewart8 0 0
159628 The kitchen was completely custom-built. It has a stainless steel library ladder, concrete countertops, and underfloor room heating 50 Stewart Street 50 Stewart Street https://torontolife.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/08/aug12Stewart3-96x96.jpg https://torontolife.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/08/aug12Stewart3.jpg https://torontolife.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/08/aug12Stewart3.jpg 624 415 [] https://torontolife.com/real-estate/house-of-the-week-50-stewart-street/slide/aug12stewart3/ aug12stewart3 0 0
159627 The dining room has a white marble fireplace that dates back to when the home was first built, in the 1880s 50 Stewart Street 50 Stewart Street https://torontolife.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/08/aug12Stewart2-96x96.jpg https://torontolife.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/08/aug12Stewart2.jpg https://torontolife.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/08/aug12Stewart2.jpg 624 415 [] https://torontolife.com/real-estate/house-of-the-week-50-stewart-street/slide/aug12stewart2/ aug12stewart2 0 0
159626 The front foyer opens onto the living room, which in turn is open to the dining room. The living space has oak tongue-and-groove floors throughout 50 Stewart Street 50 Stewart Street https://torontolife.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/08/aug12Stewart1-96x96.jpg https://torontolife.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/08/aug12Stewart1.jpg https://torontolife.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/08/aug12Stewart1.jpg 624 415 [] https://torontolife.com/real-estate/house-of-the-week-50-stewart-street/slide/aug12stewart1/ aug12stewart1 0 0
159629 The front foyer 50 Stewart Street 50 Stewart Street https://torontolife.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/08/aug12Stewart4-96x96.jpg https://torontolife.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/08/aug12Stewart4.jpg https://torontolife.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/08/aug12Stewart4.jpg 624 415 [] https://torontolife.com/real-estate/house-of-the-week-50-stewart-street/slide/aug12stewart4/ aug12stewart4 0 0
159638 The semi-detached home is on a lot that is 19 feet wide 50 Stewart Street 50 Stewart Street https://torontolife.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/08/aug12Stewart_intro-96x96.jpg https://torontolife.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/08/aug12Stewart_intro.jpg https://torontolife.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/08/aug12Stewart_intro.jpg 656 470 [] https://torontolife.com/real-estate/house-of-the-week-50-stewart-street/slide/aug12stewart_intro/ aug12stewart_intro 0 0
this home is beautiful. buyers beware, i lived in this hood for years. twice a day you can expect a foul stench wafting into your gorgeous house from the slaughter house downt he street. it’s disgusting!
Again the Home of the Week in the Globe & Mail is the House of the Week in Toronto Life. Do realtors pay for the space as a package deal?
Vlad, I noticed that as well.. Something smells fishy
amazing.. I love it.. gotta find the right buyer though..wonder how much he spent for reno and how much he paid for it less the realtor fee ? curious.
I’ll take it
@ZA – you must have lived on the other side of Bathurst. I live on this street and the smell from the slaughterhouse never comes here. And I had no idea I had more than one neighbour with a pool!
I am certain that with this type of renovation compromises need to be made, even if there is a generous budget. That being said, how functional is the second floor bathroom which has a nice shower yet zero counter space? I could live with the small basin but after spending 1.8 million do I really have to put my toiletries on the floor while I’m betting ready? There may be storage behind the mirrors however that is rather cumbersome when you need to have a few items out at once.
the pool is definitely a nice selling feature
Nice house… it scream MAN HOUSE with classy apart from the pink seat dinning chairs…for a house so slim in width, could have done without the pool. Most of these victorian homes on stewart st, look like hell from the outside. Did they actually fix up the front yards?
The smell? Why not talk about the dumpsters from the restaurants that sit on the opposite side of the street all the time. And the hotel/building loading dock (so much truck traffic/noise and smells) also directly across the street from this beautiful house.
Garbage is EVERYWHERE … stuck in the dirt & few twig bushes, etc.
AND you WILL get the noise and screaming people hollering over the hotel balcony’s directly across the street.
That side has the balcony suites of the Thompson Hotel, which is crazy noisy with hotel room parties.
Just sayin.
And I live on this street. Speaking from fact.
“:Again the Home of the Week in the Globe & Mail is the House of the Week in Toronto Life. Do realtors pay for the space as a package deal”
YES.
Absolutely perfect!
Love, love, love it, would buy it in a second. The saline pool and low maintenance backyard is a dream! Agree with Barbara though, no counter space in the 2nd floor bath is a downside, but I guess if you can afford just over 1.8 mil, you can afford to put in a cabinet. Also, I live in the area and barely notice the slaughterhouse smell, it will also be closed in a couple years.
toronto is so delusional… you deserve what’s coming. Only way for idiots like you to learn. 1.8M for a house by a slaughterhouse, facing the ass of a hotel with garbage bins, noise, loading trucks etc…. Gimme a break!! And what are u gonna say? That toronto is like NY in Canada? or some sort stupid delusional argument typical of a housing bubble sheeple mentality? The stupidity is embarrassing. The CIBC ad right on top the title makes this even more amazing. When did people become so financially ignorant?!?!?
Betsey, if u love it so much why don’t u buy it? CIBC will give u the money if u don’t have a job. Go for it Betsey!
….uh?….its painfully obvious you have no idea what you’re talking about and took this opportunity to show your ignorance not only about real estate valuations but also about downtown Toronto itself…….enjoy the sticks
Regardless of the arguments, this is a beautiful home.
hmmm. $10 grand in taxes to turn the only outdoor space into a pool you can use 2 months/ year? sale killer mistake.
1.8 million for a semi? near the animal slaughter house? uh? I like your post. Too much.
Didn’t read all the other posts, but maybe they should mention that behind this house they are building a 15 storey condo building. The construction site is annoyingly loud and dirty and it literally happens next to the pool :)))
Anytime I see a house like this featured in Toronto Life I always ask the same question, ‘why is/are the owner(s) selling given how beautiful it is and that it’s in an incredible location?’. I know this street very well and based on all the development around it and the number of nightclubs that have opened up, it’s not difficult to know the answer. It’s a real shame for the owner and for the buyer who many not know otherwise.