Surreal Estate: $3.3 million for Neil Young’s childhood home, a classic red-brick in Moore Park

Surreal Estate: $3.3 million for Neil Young’s childhood home, a classic red-brick in Moore Park

What former pad of a rock legend would be complete without a kitchen made for TV, an 1,100-square-foot basement, two walk-in closets and a deck with a secret hot tub?

Neighbourhood: Moore Park
Price: $3,350,000
Previously sold for: $1,550,000 in 2014
Size: 2,200 square feet plus a 1,150-square-foot basement and 600-square-foot attic
Bedrooms: 4+2
Bathrooms: 3
Parking spaces: 3
Real estate agent: Ramin Khaze, Forest Hill Real Estate


The place

A four-plus-two-bedroom, three-bathroom Georgian revival in Moore Park. The house is currently set up as a duplex: the main floor and basement are one unit and the top floor is another. Out back, it has a balcony, a big deck and a detached garage with garden suite potential. The place is surrounded by some of Toronto’s most cherished green spaces—Mount Pleasant Cemetery to the north, the Beltline Trail to the east, Yellow Creek to the south and the David Balfour Park Trail to the west. It’s a short walk from St. Clair station and a quick drive from Mount Pleasant Road, Bayview and the DVP.

The history

The home was built in 1922. But, more importantly, Neil Young lived here for five years as a teenager. (One imagines the baby-faced folk-rocker, guitar strapped to his back, hopping on the subway at St. Clair to get to his gigs on Yonge.) When the current owners bought it in 2014, they renovated all three levels to add some modern flourishes. Now they’re selling with hopes of landing a larger home north of the city.

Related: $14.4 million for a Milton mansion with a car collection worthy of Miami Vice

The tour

The foyer of the lower unit leads right to the living room.

This is the lower unit's living area.

There’s a wood-burning fireplace with built-in shelving, hydronic heated flooring and a wide bay window.

The flooring engineered hardwood and hydronically heated .

Next up is the dining area, with wainscoting and crown moulding throughout.

The home has crown moulding and wainscotting throughout.

Just beyond the dining area is the kitchen, equipped with an integrated fridge and a Thermador cooktop.

All the kitchen appliances are Thermador.

The counters are quartz.

The kitchen is nice enough to be on TV.

There are two bedrooms on the main floor. This one overlooks the side of the home.

This is one of two bedrooms on the main foor.

And now the primary bedroom, which walks out to a back deck.

The second main-floor bedroom walks out to the deck.

Here’s the bathroom, with a glass shower and funky tiling.

Some funky tiling in the bathroom.

The basement has a separate entrance and rough-ins for a sink and stove, so it could be converted into a rental unit or nanny suite.

The basement could be converted into a granny or nanny suite.

An opposite angle reveals the open living area. That door under the stairs leads to additional storage.

The flooring down here is vinyl.

Down the hall is this bedroom, currently set up as an office, with plenty of built-in cabinets.

This basement bedroom is currently set up as an office.

The second basement bedroom has a full wall of sliding-door closets.

This basement bedroom has some nifty sliding doors concealing more storage.

Don’t forget the bathroom, featuring heated flooring.

More heated floors in the basement bathroom.

There’s also this hybrid laundry room and closet.

A walk-in closet that's also a laundry room.

Moving to the upper unit: the layout is almost identical to its counterpart.

The second-storey unit has a layout very similar to that of the first.

See?

Seem familiar to the downstairs dining area?

But this kitchen comes with warmer tones, a herringbone backsplash and more-modern cabinets.

The counters here are quartz.

This is the first upstairs bedroom. Note the original decorative medallion encircling the light fixture.

This is the first upstairs bedroom.

And this is the main suite, with a private balcony plus a barn door that leads to the walk-in.

The main bedroom has a balcony and walk-in closet.

The closet holds a bunch of shelving and laundry. It also leads to the attic, which has another 600 square feet of storage space.

Like the basement, this closet is also a laundry room.

Here’s the view from the balcony.

The deck overlooks the backyard.

This bathroom is shared.

The shared bathroom on the upper floor.

The back deck is made for hosting.

A view of the back deck.

There’s even a secret remote-controlled hot tub out here that seats four people. Long may she run.

Finally: the four-person hot tub.

That’s artificial turf lining the backyard.

The backyard is all artificial turf.

Future residents could transform the garage into a gym or an office.

The brick garage could be converted into a gym or a garden suite.

And this stone driveway leads back to the street.

Here's the driveway-basketball-court, for fun.


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