House of the Week: $774,000 for a two-storey apartment in a 126-year-old church
ADDRESS : 152 Annette Street, Unit 306
NEIGHBOURHOOD : Junction Area
AGENT : Kari Emond , Sutton Group Realty Systems Inc., Brokerage
PRICE : $774,000
THE PLACE : A two-storey condo in a converted, 126-year-old church. The building was originally designed by Knox and Elliot, celebrated architects who also designed the grand Confederation Life Building at Richmond and Victoria.
BRAGGING RIGHTS : Living in a piece of Toronto history. The Romanesque Revival church is a designated heritage site, so many of the building’s original architectural charms—like the curved brick columns and copper-covered steeple—are well preserved.
BIG SELLING POINT : Living in a heritage building doesn’t mean living in the past. The exterior and the lobby are from another era, but the condo itself is fully modern, with smoked oak flooring, quartz countertops, rain shower heads and heated bathroom floors.
POSSIBLE DEAL BREAKER : This particular condo is housed in what was once the church’s Sunday school, so expect to feel extra guilty on hangover Sundays.
BY THE NUMBERS :
• $774,000
• 225-square-foot terrace
• 126 years of history
• 11-foot ceilings
• 2 bedrooms
• 2 bathrooms
• 1 gas barbecue on the terrace
75314 152 Annette https://torontolife.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/06/152AnnetteExterior.jpg https://torontolife.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/06/152AnnetteExterior.jpg https://torontolife.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/06/152AnnetteExterior.jpg 624 416 [] https://torontolife.com/real-estate/house-of-the-week-converted-church/slide/152annetteexterior/ 152annetteexterior 0 0
75315 Back entrance 152 Annette https://torontolife.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/06/152AnnetteExterior2.jpg https://torontolife.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/06/152AnnetteExterior2.jpg https://torontolife.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/06/152AnnetteExterior2.jpg 624 416 [] https://torontolife.com/real-estate/house-of-the-week-converted-church/slide/152annetteexterior2/ 152annetteexterior2 0 0
Back entrance
75316 Exterior 152 Annette https://torontolife.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/06/152AnnetteExterior3.jpg https://torontolife.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/06/152AnnetteExterior3.jpg https://torontolife.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/06/152AnnetteExterior3.jpg 624 416 [] https://torontolife.com/real-estate/house-of-the-week-converted-church/slide/152annetteexterior3/ 152annetteexterior3 0 0
Exterior
75330 Living room 152 Annette https://torontolife.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/06/livingroom.jpg https://torontolife.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/06/livingroom.jpg https://torontolife.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/06/livingroom.jpg 624 416 [] https://torontolife.com/real-estate/house-of-the-week-converted-church/slide/livingroom-2/ livingroom-2 0 0
Living room
75331 Living room and stairs 152 Annette https://torontolife.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/06/livingroom2.jpg https://torontolife.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/06/livingroom2.jpg https://torontolife.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/06/livingroom2.jpg 624 416 [] https://torontolife.com/real-estate/house-of-the-week-converted-church/slide/livingroom2/ livingroom2 0 0
Living room and stairs
75328 Kitchen and living space 152 Annette https://torontolife.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/06/livingdiningkitchen.jpg https://torontolife.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/06/livingdiningkitchen.jpg https://torontolife.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/06/livingdiningkitchen.jpg 624 416 [] https://torontolife.com/real-estate/house-of-the-week-converted-church/slide/livingdiningkitchen/ livingdiningkitchen 0 0
Kitchen and living space
75329 Overhead view: kitchen and living space 152 Annette https://torontolife.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/06/livingdiningkitchen2.jpg https://torontolife.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/06/livingdiningkitchen2.jpg https://torontolife.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/06/livingdiningkitchen2.jpg 624 416 [] https://torontolife.com/real-estate/house-of-the-week-converted-church/slide/livingdiningkitchen2/ livingdiningkitchen2 0 0
Overhead view: kitchen and living space
75323 Dining space 152 Annette https://torontolife.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/06/diningroom.jpg https://torontolife.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/06/diningroom.jpg https://torontolife.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/06/diningroom.jpg 624 416 [] https://torontolife.com/real-estate/house-of-the-week-converted-church/slide/diningroom-4/ diningroom-4 0 0
Dining space
75327 Kitchen and stairs 152 Annette https://torontolife.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/06/kitchendining.jpg https://torontolife.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/06/kitchendining.jpg https://torontolife.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/06/kitchendining.jpg 624 416 [] https://torontolife.com/real-estate/house-of-the-week-converted-church/slide/kitchendining/ kitchendining 0 0
Kitchen and stairs
75324 Kitchen 152 Annette https://torontolife.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/06/kitchen1.jpg https://torontolife.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/06/kitchen1.jpg https://torontolife.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/06/kitchen1.jpg 624 416 [] https://torontolife.com/real-estate/house-of-the-week-converted-church/slide/kitchen-18/ kitchen-18 0 0
Kitchen
75325 Kitchen island 152 Annette https://torontolife.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/06/kitchen2.jpg https://torontolife.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/06/kitchen2.jpg https://torontolife.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/06/kitchen2.jpg 624 416 [] https://torontolife.com/real-estate/house-of-the-week-converted-church/slide/kitchen2-2/ kitchen2-2 0 0
Kitchen island
75326 Kitchen 152 Annette https://torontolife.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/06/kitchen3.jpg https://torontolife.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/06/kitchen3.jpg https://torontolife.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/06/kitchen3.jpg 624 416 [] https://torontolife.com/real-estate/house-of-the-week-converted-church/slide/kitchen3/ kitchen3 0 0
Kitchen
75322 Den 152 Annette https://torontolife.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/06/den.jpg https://torontolife.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/06/den.jpg https://torontolife.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/06/den.jpg 624 416 [] https://torontolife.com/real-estate/house-of-the-week-converted-church/slide/den-2/ den-2 0 0
Den
75332 Master bedroom with view to deck 152 Annette https://torontolife.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/06/master.jpg https://torontolife.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/06/master.jpg https://torontolife.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/06/master.jpg 624 416 [] https://torontolife.com/real-estate/house-of-the-week-converted-church/slide/master/ master 0 0
Master bedroom with view to deck
75333 Master bedroom 152 Annette https://torontolife.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/06/master2.jpg https://torontolife.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/06/master2.jpg https://torontolife.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/06/master2.jpg 624 416 [] https://torontolife.com/real-estate/house-of-the-week-converted-church/slide/master2/ master2 0 0
Master bedroom
75320 Bedroom 152 Annette https://torontolife.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/06/bedroom.jpg https://torontolife.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/06/bedroom.jpg https://torontolife.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/06/bedroom.jpg 624 416 [] https://torontolife.com/real-estate/house-of-the-week-converted-church/slide/bedroom-5/ bedroom-5 0 0
Bedroom
75321 Bedroom 152 Annette https://torontolife.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/06/bedroomb.jpg https://torontolife.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/06/bedroomb.jpg https://torontolife.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/06/bedroomb.jpg 624 416 [] https://torontolife.com/real-estate/house-of-the-week-converted-church/slide/bedroomb/ bedroomb 0 0
Bedroom
75318 Bathroom 152 Annette https://torontolife.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/06/bathroom1.jpg https://torontolife.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/06/bathroom1.jpg https://torontolife.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/06/bathroom1.jpg 624 416 [] https://torontolife.com/real-estate/house-of-the-week-converted-church/slide/bathroom-4/ bathroom-4 0 0
Bathroom
75319 Other bathroom 152 Annette https://torontolife.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/06/bathroom2.jpg https://torontolife.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/06/bathroom2.jpg https://torontolife.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/06/bathroom2.jpg 624 416 [] https://torontolife.com/real-estate/house-of-the-week-converted-church/slide/bathroom2/ bathroom2 0 0
Other bathroom
75317 Balcony 152 Annette https://torontolife.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/06/balcony.jpg https://torontolife.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/06/balcony.jpg https://torontolife.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/06/balcony.jpg 624 416 [] https://torontolife.com/real-estate/house-of-the-week-converted-church/slide/balcony/ balcony 0 0
Balcony
There’s…no architectural charm on the inside.
It’d be like living in a hard loft that’s been tweaked so much that it might as well be a soft loft. Preservation of original details is half the charm of living in these types of buildings!
Agree with David. It doesn’t help that they seem to have hired low budget stagers.
Cold, sterile, uninviting, and not even a hint that this was once a church. It’s not for me …
And what’s the deal with the poor photography? It’s great that this unit has such a large amount of natural light coming in, but these photos do nothing to help sell this place. Everything is white-washed and the pictures are actually hard to look at, let alone trying to visualize the space. Sorry to say but you can get so much more for that kind of cash!
The developers missed a real opportunity inside of this gem to showcase modern meets tradition . Even places like hotels spas restaurant that we spend a few hours in have more vitality and energy. These images do not motivate me to move, buy or even want to drive by and see ..
The interior and finishes to me are cold life less and a disservice to rebirth of classical weds 2011.. what about just green the space with plants on patio, bathroom etc and maybe hire a professional designer or stager..breath life and magic into grey and cold
While the congregation of this church goes back 126 years, a quick look at this building’s entry on the city’s heritage inventory notes that this particular building was not actually built until 1890, making it 121 years old this year, not 126. For the first years, the Presbyterians supposedly met in the passengers waiting room of the the nearby CPR station, and then moved into a wooden church on thes southern side of Annette where they were based until this structure was ready for occuapancy.
FAIL
Doesn’t seem very big to me to pay that much but the rooms I agree lack imagination but the hood it is in I can see why they downgraded. Myself I would take it regardless of the lack of decor but the price needs a rework.
How can you say there’s no details in the suite…. clearly you need to put on your sunglasses to see them. I’ve never seen a place so white before, must be an old WASP neighborhood.
Have to agree. I was expecting something more stunning given what I’ve seen in other church conversions.
However, as someone who lives nearby, I’m pleased that the church wasn’t just torn down. At least preserving the exterior preserves the look of the neighbourhood, sparing us some modernist monstrosity that is totally out of place.
This suite doesn’t appear to be in the church itself, but in the add-on, which might be newer. That might explain the lack of character?
Would have loved to have a seen a condo “in” the church not “in the new addition” to the church. Mighty disappointing. Plus, some of those pictures gave me the willies, like the one with the creepily pink bedspread in a completely sterile and lifeless airlock, sorry, bedroom.
This unit is in the school house which was build later in, 1926 as a Sunday school. The existing space was large & open, with the ceiling heights, window sizes & style pre-existing. The details you are thinking of as typical of a church are on the other side of the development in the church lofts. Every opportunity to preserve & restore details throughout the project has been made form the entrence way to the corridors & units themselves.
The quality of light is very bright, once actually occupied with proper window shades installed the interior would not look quite so sun washed.
Drop by on the weekend & see the actual spaces –
What a great place! The pics look great and the space is amazing! The charm of the victorian lofts is amazing!
The fact that most people here are complaining about how the space does not look lived in, or looks too “sparse”, just goes to show people on the internet are not very bright. Of course it hasn’t been lived in yet!
Look at the space, high ceilings, and large windows!! There’s so much potential.
Looking at the contractor’s main website and facebook page for this project you can see hints of the original stained glass windows, door archways, and reconstruction that was done on the statue facades on some wall sections. Next time before you talk badly about a project you *wish* you had worked on yourself, do some research. It’s modern, beautiful, and spacious. Saying it has no “original” or “classic” elements left within is outright incorrect.
I am considering this place! And anyone who thinks a “ball was dropped” certainly failed to look into the space in a serious fashion. Haters going to hate I guess. (Probably old people who don’t get what’s cool anyway.)
Nice space. Poor staging and photography, as others have noted. But huge amount of space, tons of potential, interesting location. And not a $2mn “cottage” – yay Toronto Life!
oh dear what a soulless little space.
Incredibly boring. Looks more like office space.