House of the Week: $1.6 million for a semi with an interior of stained oak and brick

Address: 66 Browning Avenue
Neighbourhood: North Riverdale Agent: Graham Bell, Keller Williams Referred Urban Realty, Brokerage Price: $1,599,000

The place

A four-bedroom semi near Playter Estates. Most of the ground floor is lined with exposed brick, starting with the living room, which has a wood-burning fireplace:

The furnishings here aren’t super-expensive, but the owner has quite an eye for splashes of colour. These won’t be the last well-deployed paintings we see today:

The dining area:

Stained oak was out of fashion for a little while toward the middle of the 20th century, so at other properties of this vintage a lot of this type of woodwork has been removed or painted over:

There are three bedrooms on the second floor of the house:

This largest bedroom is being used as a family room:

Another wood-burning fireplace (and a couple more interesting paintings):

This bedroom has a connected sunroom:

And here’s the other second-floor bedroom:

There’s another bedroom on the third floor, and also an office space. Windows throughout the house were replaced relatively recently, so rooms like this one shouldn’t be too drafty:

The third-floor bedroom, with one last peek of exposed brick:

The owners added this rooftop deck, accessible from the office:

And here’s the backyard:

The history

The house was built in 1915, and the current owner bought it more than 30 years ago. Many original features remain—like the oak staircase—but there have been some major renovations over the years. In 2013, the owner revamped the kitchen with quartz countertops and stainless steel appliances.

Big selling point

The location is hard to beat. There’s easy access to the DVP, and the house is a one-block walk away from the Bloor-Danforth subway line. There’s also Greektown nearby for food, and the Beaches are in strolling distance.

Possible deal breaker

A close-knit family could probably handle the fact that there’s just one bathroom for the four upstairs bedrooms—but the situation is further complicated by the fact that there’s no downstairs powder room, meaning guests will have to use the bathroom in the basement.

By the numbers:

• $1,599,000 • $4,374.75 in taxes (2016) • 2129 square feet above-grade • 793-square-foot basement • 4 bedrooms • 2 bathrooms • 2 wood-burning fireplaces • 1 parking space