What It Went For

Kitchen/breakfast room top feature at renovated 1887 Victorian home

Harbord Village 66 brunswick Ave. (College Street and Spadina Avenue) Asking price: $4.295 million Sold for: $4.26 million Taxes: $10,711 (2020) bedrooms: 4+1 bathrooms: 5

Square footage: 3,185 Garage: 2

Parking: 0 days on the market: 58

This historic Victorian, built in 1887, underwent a detailed restoration/ renovation that was completed in 2019.

“The house was completely gutted,” says listing agent Christian Vermast. “essentially the only things that remained are some of the trim and the staircase banister. The house was a mess. It was chopped up into five units and was the worst house on the street at the time. There was not a blade of grass … and there was concrete all around. The last thing to be done was the landscaping.”

The 30x138-foot lot has an outdoor fireplace, and barbecue, dining and lounge areas, as well as an outdoor speaker system. The garage was completely rebuilt. It has two sets of glass garden doors facing the backyard so it can be used as an indoor entertaining space, Vermast says.

“It was turned from Toronto’s ugliest garage (and given) a coach house look.”

The lower level offers an additional 1,407 square feet. He says, “There are two walkouts from the lower level so it doesn’t feel like a basement.”

The best feature? Vermast says it’s easily the kitchen/ breakfast room with its large windows. “The showstopper is the 48-inch dual-fuel range with a 48-inch extraction fan.”

There is a large island for guests to gather around. The countertops and backsplash are made of quartzite, a very high-end natural marble that is very hard. “red wine stains are easy to remove,” he says.

The floor joists in the attic were originally made of scrap wood because people didn’t live in attics in the 1880s, he says. “The entire floor could have caved in. Fortunately, when everything was opened up, the engineer saw the problem and created a new floor. The floor was dropped one foot to give greater ceiling height in that back bedroom.”

Potential buyers who love old homes were drawn to the property, as well as those who wanted turnkey, move-in ready space, he says. “What was unusual was the amount of natural sunlight, as Victorian homes tend to be dark. The home is on a super-wide boulevard section of the heritage conservation district.”

Listing Broker: Sotheby’s International Realty Canada (Christian Vermast and Paul Maranger)