House of the Week: $6.3 million for a red-brick Georgian mansion in Casa Loma

By Fraser Abe | November 23, 2011

By Fraser Abe | 11/23/2011

NEIGHBOURHOOD: Casa Loma

AGENT: Maurice Gherson, Forest Hill Real Estate Inc., Brokerage

PRICE: $6,295,000

THE PLACE: A red-brick Georgian mansion grand enough to stand out in a neighbourhood full of Georgian mansions.

BRAGGING RIGHTS: There’s a soda fountain and an ice cream bar in the games room, meaning you basically have your own Pop Tate’s Chok’lit Shoppe.

BIG SELLING POINT: The interior design covers just about every aesthetic era, so when you want to feel like a medieval English lord, you can retire to the wood-panelled study; when you want to feel like Delta Burke circa Designing Women, there’s the spectacularly ’80s front hall; and when you’re planning a Boogy Nights–style party, the glam, mirror-filled, ’70s basement room will surely do the trick.

POSSIBLE DEAL BREAKER: That said, having a faux leopard-print rug on the stairs might not be cruel to animals, but it’s cruel to anyone with a sense of style.

BY THE NUMBERS:
• $6,295,000
• $31,046.86 (2011 taxes)
• 8 bedrooms
• 8 bathrooms
• 4 fireplaces
• 3 storeys
• 2-car garage
• 11-foot ceilings
• 1 in-ground pool
• 1 soda fountain
• 1 circular driveway
• 1 wine cellar

SHOW CAPTION

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Look at this image, then earlier in the gallery. Same house

The billiards room, ripped from a ’50s diner

Another bedroom. Who plays chess on the floor? Savages, that’s who

A bedroom for your little girl (or not, we don’t judge)

Feel like Helios every time you wash your hands.

A luxurious bathroom, with some kind of giant ladybug in the lower right corner

Like a scene from a movie, where the upstart proletariat burst in

The master bathroom, with a g-g-ghost in the background

The family room, linked with the solarium

The breakfast nook, probably the only homey thing in the entire mansion

Wood panels make the twin dishwashers blend in

The kitchen, with a Sub-Zero fridge, Thermador cooktop and Aeg oven

Using common elements, the home blends multiple styles.

The brick exterior. Expect plenty of baseballs to get stuck up there

17 thoughts on “House of the Week: $6.3 million for a red-brick Georgian mansion in Casa Loma”

RJ says:

November 24, 2011 at 8:40 am

Wow looks like they forgot certain parts of the house…need another millon to bring the house to have some flow…. One of the best streets in forest hill but seriously,
Mike says:

November 24, 2011 at 8:46 am

Great house and pool. The decor is a horror show, but if you have 6.3M in the first place for this locale, what another 1M to bring into this century… It comes with its own crowbar.
Kate says:

November 24, 2011 at 10:39 am

I would love to see the floor plan for this house, it does not seem to have proper flow, with the communal rooms lacking proper function. Some of the bathrooms have really dated/cheap fixtures and finishes. $6.3 million is alot for a house that needs upgrades.
Miles says:

November 24, 2011 at 11:01 am

Um, I’d definitely keep the basement as is. How could you not?
Jim says:

November 24, 2011 at 11:03 am

The Fresh Prince called – they want their set back. Seriously, $6.3 mil for a house that looks like it was vomited up from the 90’s? What a joke.
lola says:

November 24, 2011 at 11:29 am

Obviously money doesn’t get you taste. This place is a design disaster.
Mel S. says:

November 24, 2011 at 12:08 pm

You only showed this one to make us laugh right? Who would think as you pass these show homes from the outside that on the inside, they are such a hideous mess. Absolutely tasteless decor.
Laurie Morissette says:

November 24, 2011 at 2:21 pm

Wow. Proof that money does not buy good taste.
Johnathan Vrozos says:

November 24, 2011 at 4:26 pm

Fantastic street and neighbourhood BUT “COME ON MAN” the furniture is terrible and the fixtures look like Canadian Tire $10 fixtures!!
The oak like breakfast table and 4 chairs look like they came from a basement kitchen from St Clair and Caledonia.
$6.3 m is insane!!!
The pool and backyard is awesome but needs furniture NOT from IKEA and DOT!!
Johnathan Vrozos
me says:

November 24, 2011 at 5:58 pm

love the pOOl
SReed says:

November 24, 2011 at 7:48 pm

One word: stager.
Shel says:

November 24, 2011 at 8:43 pm

Staging may get rid of the ugly furniture, dried floral arrangements and blue and poster art but only C4 will get rid of the cabinetry, tiles, bathroom fixtures and that basement. Yikes!
Peter212 says:

November 25, 2011 at 6:43 am

I think you are only paying for the area, nothing else. Heavens!!
Cosmo Mannella says:

November 25, 2011 at 7:24 am

“make them an offer they cannot refuse” and then do the art community a favor and burn all the furniture.
what were they thinking!!!
cosmo mannella
casualreader says:

November 28, 2011 at 12:46 pm

It is a big typical mansion on a huge lot in Forest Hill. Everything is expensive there. Styles, furniture, decor do not matter. Sometimes even houses do not matter. You are paying for the location and the lot. Rosedale with its “Heritage” (really?) status is more overpriced for what you are paying for. In general, the real estate prices are really skyrocketing in places like Toronto, Vancouver, etc. I guess that is the new reality. Just compare it to London, Paris, New York, our houses are still cheap.
Methinks says:

December 2, 2011 at 2:35 pm

LOCATION! LOCATION! LOCATION!
@ casualreader: you nailed it.
Reader says:

January 30, 2012 at 11:15 pm

Everyone is commenting on the decor, which is irrelevant. This is the nicest neighbourhood in the city, hands down. The location is the key here. This house lot is on a corner, and expands into the pool and garage. The house is maybe a mil or two, but the lot is easily 3 or even 4. Just a thought.