House of the Week: $8.6 million for a home near Casa Loma with eight bedrooms and an outdoor dining hall
The 5,600-square-foot property is surrounded by gardens and comes with original arched doorways, 10-foot ceilings and a finished basement with a separate entrance
Location: Casa Loma
Price: $8,632,000
Size: 5,667 square feet
Bedrooms: 7+1
Bathrooms: 6
Realtor: Linda McClean, Sotheby’s
The place
An eight-bedroom, six-bathroom century home nestled on a double lot that backs onto the Nordheimer Ravine. It’s been restored, styled and staged by designer Amanda Aerin and is a stone’s throw from Winston Churchill Park and the St. Clair streetcar.
The history
Built in 1919, this Toronto classic is the brainchild of Eden Smith, a member of the Toronto Architectural Eighteen Club, famous for promoting architecture as an art form as well as a profession. After serving as a rooming house, the mansion hosted Toronto lawyer Lesra Martin and his team as they worked to exonerate boxer Rubin “Hurricane” Carter, who had been wrongly convicted of murder and imprisoned between 1967 and 1985.
The house’s current owner redid the basement and preserved the property’s most coveted feature: the outdoor dining hall awash in golden light, greenery and cobblestone.
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The tour
The regal residence makes full use of its corner lot with a two-door garage as well as a front and backyard.
Inside, a stately staircase flanks the entrance.
Here’s the living area, equipped with a chandelier, a gas fireplace and twin recessed windows.
Attached to the living area is a checkered-floored sunroom that’s currently used as a games room.
The kitchen features a marble island, tons of custom cabinets and a six-burner Wolf stove. The exposed brick adds a historical touch.
This dining area has 10-foot ceilings and overlooks the ravine.
Just beyond the dining room and through the crown-moulded arches is a serene reading room that walks out to one of the home’s two outdoor terraces.
The atrium—fashioned as an office—comes with humongous bay windows and wall-to-wall bookshelves.
Moving up to the second-floor landing reveals a bespoke oak bookshelf.
The main bedroom has its own fireplace, chandelier, mini office and ensuite bathroom.
Here’s that ensuite. It’s clad in marble and hides a separate dressing room behind the sliding curtain.
The second floor houses four of the home’s bedrooms, including this one, which comes with a double closet and a stretched, six-panel lookout.
The owner also finished the basement to make it rentable—there’s a separate entrance, a kitchen, a three-piece bathroom, a laundry room and this living area.
The basement kitchen has LG and Bosch stainless steel appliances.
Down the hall is this space, ideal for a gym or more storage.
Back outside, down a cobblestone path and through some brick arches sits the outdoor dining hall.
Here’s a closer look from within the space, which was conceived as a weather-proof dinner-party venue.
This picturesque second deck sits above the garage and is attached to the second floor.
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