Dear reader, My friend Sam likes to say that Lansdowne is too ugly to be gentrified—and that’s a good thing. You’ve got the Nitta Gelatin plant north of Bloor, which for decades has been showering Lansdowne station in a perfume I call Barnyard Bohème. There’s that confounding knot of streetcar tracks where College and Dundas briefly, awkwardly intersect. And who could forget the giant No Frills with the giant parking lot overlooking the giant rail corridor? Beautiful in an ugly way is how I characterize it.
But even Lansdowne can change. Today, the street’s historic mix of industry, transit and functional grit is attracting all sorts of development, much of it welcome. The future Bloor-Lansdowne GO station will soon support frequent all-day service and connect to Dundas West station via a pedestrian tunnel. To the west, Sterling Road is becoming Toronto’s unofficial mass timber district. And at 77 Wade, right next to the gelatin factory, a desperately needed 155,000-square-foot office tower full of wet labs is racing to completion. Which brings us to Curb Appeal’s top post this week, a modern standout—straight edges, tons of glass and gallery-like rooms—overlooking Lansdowne. It manages to blend in with the neighbourhood thanks to its familiar silhouette and friendly brick façade. Also in today’s newsletter: an Etobicoke Tudor with ships and lions carved into its walls. Plus, a Toronto couple who renovated an 18th-century French farmhouse for $1.9 million. For all of our real estate coverage and more, visit torontolife.com or subscribe to our print edition. |
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| —Barry Jordan Chong, city and real estate editor |
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A three-plus-two-bedroom, four-bathroom detached overlooking Lansdowne that spans four levels, including a half-basement that walks out to the street. The home comes with two patios on each floor, seemingly endless storage and wacky wallpapers, including one of an alien abduction and another of Canadian geese in flight. It’s within walking distance of MOCA, No Frills, and the many shops and restaurants along Dundas. And motorists are a short drive from the Gardiner. |
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| What house backing onto a country club would be complete without lions carved into mantles, a forest’s worth of Douglas fir, a head-turning fireplace lounge and a driveway made with cobblestones from old streetcar tracks? |
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| Over the pandemic, Nancy Hanley and Kevan Gorrie did something crazy: they renovated a beautiful farmhouse in France from their home at Yonge and Wilson. Here’s how they pulled it off. |
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