Hemingway apartment will be home to another author
You could call it poetic justice. The winner of a bidding war for a Toronto apartment once occupied by Ernest Hemingwayis in the book business, herself.
Children’s illustrator and author Thao Lam had been searching for a new home for about eight long months when her offer of $801,000 beat three other buyers for the two-bedroom-plus-den in the building near Bathurst St. and St. Clair Ave. W. named for its most famous tenant.
The author of My Cat Looks Like My Dad hasn’t read Hemingway and wasn’t especially impressed when she learned that the American literary icon has occupied the building for a few months in 1923 while working for the Toronto Star.
“I saw it in the description, but I really didn’t think about it. I was more worried about the price point and the subway travel,” said Lam, who was interested in the size of the condo (1,100 sq. ft.) and its proximity to the St. Clair W. subway station she will use to take her daughter to school.
In something of a moveable feast, a conversion of the apartment’s dining room into a work studio is on the menu.
“In comparison to other units I’ve seen, it’s definitely bigger. I also like that it had a lot of sunlight, because it’s facing eastwest,” she said
The natural light pouring through the condo’s east and west exposure will help Lam create her vibrant, good humoured illustrations.
“I’m sure Hemingway, himself, would have been happy to know the new buyer shares the same vocation,” said listing agent Andrew Harrild of Condos.ca.
“It’s almost karma the way it’s worked out,” he said.
The unit was listed for $730,000 as a “fourth-floor, N.Y.-style walk-up.” The ground floor of the building is partially below grade.
The lack of an elevator is a good feature to Lam. She said it means not having to wait 10 minutes to get to the lobby in the morning rush as she does in her current home in a downtown tower.
Among folks attending busy showings and open houses, there were a few Hemingway enthusiasts, who wanted to see the space once occupied by the literary lion.
Said Harrild: “The attention is what the unit deserves.”