Scadding Cabin is a 1794 log cabin on the grounds of Exhibition Place. It was constructed for a pioneer named John Scadding and is now the oldest surviving building in Toronto.
The cabin was originally built on the property of John Scadding, an immigrant from Devonshire, in order to fulfill his settlement duties to the Crown. The cabin stood at the east side of the Don River south of Queen Street East on a 253-acre land grant that stretched north from Lake Ontario to present-day Danforth Avenue. Scadding lived in the cabin until he returned to England in 1796.
When Scadding returned to York in 1818, he sold his property, and cabin, to a farmer named William Smith, who used the cabin as an outbuilding. The cabin remained in the Smith family until 1879 when the cabin was offered to the York Pioneers (Ontario’s oldest historical society, and the second-oldest historical society in Canada).
1879 was also the beginning of the Toronto Industrial Exhibition (later the CNE) and the York Pioneers worked with the Exhibition’s founders to move the cabin to its current site (2 Strachan Avenue) to celebrate the fair’s inauguration. The cabin was dismantled, moved and reconstructed by the York Pioneers on the grounds of the first Industrial Exhibition (now Exhibition Place) on August 22, 1879.
Current use
The York Pioneers currently operate Scadding Cabin as a museum. The cabin is furnished as a pioneer home from the 1830s to early 1840s, although there are artifacts that date back to the 1790s. The oldest item is a baby’s cradle, made by Scadding himself. Furnishings include two spinning wheels and a wool winder, equipment for making bread and butter, a candle mould and utensils for cooking on an open hearth.
Scadding Cabin is open during the CNE. The cabin is also open through special arrangements and for community events during the summer months such as Toronto’s Doors Open. In the past the cabin has been open during the Luminato Festival and annual CHIN picnic when these events are held at Exhibition Place.1
At 637 Lakeshore Blvd. West just west of Bathurst Street sits the Tip Top Lofts. Just behind it lies Lake Ontario. This building has a long and prominent history in Toronto. Formerly known as the Tip Top Tailors Building, it was constructed in 1929 and housed the manufacturing, warehousing, retail and office operations of Tip Top Tailors Ltd., a menswear clothing retailer founded in 1909 by Polish-Jewish immigrant David Dunkelman.
The building was designed by Bishop and Miller architects, incorporating the Art Deco style. In 1972, the building was designated as a heritage structure by the City of Toronto.
In spring 2002, Dylex (the company owning the building) sold the property to Context Development, who converted it into condominium lofts. The conversion was designed by architects Alliance of Toronto. The conversion included the addition of six stories on the roof. The neon Tip Top Tailors rooftop sign was retained and given a slant. Inside, there are 256 beautifully renovated lofts.
A few notes on the interior lofts courtesy of the website condos.ca:
Offering “hard” and “soft” lofts: When the building was converted into lofts in the early 2000’s, Context Developments was smart-thinking to create both hard and soft lofts. What that means is that Tip Top Lofts offers both the classic, exposed brick and woodbeam “hard loft” style, as well as more modern “soft loft” styles that will feel like a contemporary condo.
A Few Historical Photos
Courtesy of the City of Toronto Archives and torontolofts.ca, here are a few photos tracing the history of this magnificent Art Deco building:
1926193019401980: Tip Top Tailors building in the background with a Joy Gas Station in front1985
Passing these beautiful old brownstones on Maitland Street last week I noticed that a rezoning proposal has been submitted for 36 and 42 Maitland Street. These buildings are known as The Maitlands and managed by Hazelview Properties.
36 & 42 Maitland Street42 Maitland Street36 Maitland StreetBuilding proposal for 34, 36 and 42 Maitland Street… nnnnoooooooo!!!!Someone else has voiced their commentsJust what we need… another highrise condo to congest the area. Looks like a protester has slapped on a “Squat The Village” sticker in response to the threat.
The building proposal would incorporate the two existing facades, which are Heritage buildings, at 36 and 42 Maitland Street and would look like this:
I find this trend of filling in quieter, charming streets with towering monoliths alarming. I’m no Jane Jacobs or Christopher Hume, but I must say that this type of city development destroys a neighbourhood; it also saddens me. Currently Maitland Street is a quiet, orderly, leafy and calm residential street. If these proposed changes go ahead, Maitland Street will suffer the same fate as Charles Street – a once-beautiful, tree-lined, quiet street, full of character, turned into a major thoroughfare with towering condos every few feet.
But wait, there’s more…
Oh, say it ain’t so… Across the street at 37 Maitland Street, this beautiful building (currently law offices) is also being threatened with a zoning proposal for a 49 storey condo building.
Zoning proposal for this site. At least they will be incorporating the facade into the new complex.
This will bring back memories for a lot of people. These shots are from February 2017, so they’re too new to fall into my From the Vaults category, but too old to be considered new cityscapes (if that makes any sense).
Ah yes, Honest Ed Mirvish’s little empire of kitsch at 581 Bloor Street West. This photoset was taken on the last weekend that Honest Eds was open to the public. The store had been emptied and closed prior to this date, but reopened on this particular weekend only for a couple of farewell parties and a massive art installation which took up the entire store. After that weekend the store closed permanently and the demolition began. A new condo building now sits on that famous corner of Bloor and Bathurst, and yet another piece of Toronto history has sadly died.
I’ve been working on this post for months, off and on. Originally I had entitled it Jarvis Street Mansions and thought I’d focus exclusively on the remaining mansions from Jarvis Street’s so-called golden era. As I walked up and down Jarvis Street capturing shots for this post, I encountered a fair number of buildings that, while not necessarily “mansions”, are heritage buildings with historical significance. Doing a little research I could find the history/background on many of these Jarvis Street structures; conversely some seem to have left no legacy at all.
There have been hundreds of articles written on how Jarvis Street looked about 120 years ago or more – it must have been exquisite. These days if you stand outside one of the surviving mansions and mentally dismiss the solar panels, traffic lights, garbage cans, bike stands, crosswalks, electric skateboards, honking horns and other trappings of the 21st century, you can imagine how it must have looked in a different era.
View of Jarvis Street, 1915
A Walk Up Jarvis Street
The Corner of Jarvis Street and King Street East
Except for the St. Lawrence Market there’s not many – if any – historical buildings on Jarvis Street south of King Street East, so this little tour of Jarvis Street will begin at this corner and work north to Bloor Street.
At 44 Jarvis Street resides the Canadian Bank of Commerce building, which was home to the York Council Chambers from 1907 to 1950.
144 King Street East Around the corner from 44 Jarvis Street. Canadian Bank of Commerce building.
157 King Street East Southwest corner of Jarvis Street and King Street East
150 King Street West Northeast corner of Jarvis Street and King Street East. The Daniel Brooke Building.
This building was first constructed in 1833 for owner Daniel Brooke, a prominent merchant in the town of York. It was substantially rebuilt between 1848-1849 prior to the great fire of April 1849 which started in a nearby stable. While much of the business district was destroyed, this building escaped major damage.
It housed a variety of commercial enterprises over the years, including the prosperous wholesale grocery business of James Austin and Patrick Foy in the 1840s. Austin went on to become a president of the Consumers Gas Company and of the Dominion Bank. His home, Spadina, became a museum in 1984. During the mid-19th century, the Daniel Brooke building contained the offices of The Patriot, an influential conservative newspaper.
The block is a rare example of Georgian architecture in Toronto.
55-57-61-65-73 Jarvis Street
A string of retail shops occupy these buildings
99 Jarvis Street
99 Jarvis Street is an historic heritage building conceived in 1898 by renowned Toronto-based Architect Fredrick Henry Herbert, a prolific architect at the time. Along with E.J. Lennox, Herbert was the architect of choice for wealthy Torontonians building mansions on Jarvis Street, Rosedale and the Annex. The building is currently the showroom for the contemporary kitchen and furniture retailer Poliform.
If you’re interested in reading more about this building, there’s a fascinating and in depth history of it here.
107 Jarvis Street
Currently home to the Salvation Army Gateway. The Gateway is a 120 bed emergency shelter and drop-in for individuals experiencing homelessness and marginalization in Toronto. Their goal is to meet people in their experience of homelessness and help them find their way out.
207-209-211-213 Jarvis Street
207 Jarvis Street is hidden behind the “Skygrid” hoarding on right. 207 Jarvis is the project office for Mango Hotels, Hyatt Place Residences, which is going up next door at 203 Jarvis, corner of Shuter Street.
207-213 Jarvis Street is a residential rowhouse built in 1879 by Builder John Small in the Second Empire style.
Property speculator Charles Chamberlain and builder John Smith acquired the property at the corner of Jarvis and Shuter Streets in the late 1870s. Chamberlain was responsible for developing a number of terrace housing in the 1870s, including 165-179 Carlton Street (1878); 181-183 Carlton Street (1878); 187-189 Carlton Street (1878); and 568-582 Parliament Street (1876). All exhibit the same architectural design.
215-217-219 Jarvis Street
In 1864 a terrace house with three-units was erected on Lot 22 at 215-219 Jarvis Street. A speculative venture, the builder Thomas Snarr acquired the land to develop the three-storey brick houses, leasing them to middle-class merchants and professionals.
The grand proportions of this terrace housing speak to the middle-class occupants that builder Thomas Snarr was hoping to attract to his speculative development. Built of red brick, the three-storeys on a raised basement served as fairly gracious residences until they were subdivided into rooming houses in the mid- twentieth century.
280 Jarvis Street
280 Jarvis Street is a beautiful old building desperately in need of a reno and some TLC. It was built in 1891 in the Richardson Romanesque style, and is now a Heritage property. There is, however, currently a proposal to build a 25-storey mixed-use rental and condominium building on this site. This current building on the site will be incorporated into the structure, and the project will be designed by Giannone Petricone Associates for Antorisa Investments Ltd. It will be joined with 290 Jarvis Street (more below).
The proposal for the site looks something like this:
287 Jarvis Street
Built in 1890, 287 Jarvis Street is on the Toronto heritage list of buildings. It is currently part of a housing organization called Homes First Society, Jarvis House.
Jarvis House consists of 6 apartments each containing 4 units. These are home to 24 single men aged 45 and over. A renovated historical building, Jarvis House is owned by the Toronto Housing Company and managed by Homes First.
290 Jarvis Street
A neglected, beautiful old building in need of rejuvenation
The building at 290 Jarvis was built in 1891 in a style known as Richardsonian Romanesque. The style appeared for only about 20 years and is attributed to an architect named Henry Richardson. This building is known as the William Carlyle House and is a mirror image of the home at 280 Jarvis Street – also from 1891 – which also sits empty and boarded up. The two buildings have historical designations and are intended to be incorporated into a new 25 story condo development.
280 and 290 Jarvis Street from the east side of Jarvis Street
Builder’s proposal of how 280 and 290 Jarvis Street will be joined
295 Jarvis Street
The Inglewood Arms rooming house. Not everything on Jarvis Street is beautiful.
The building’s days are numbered though; on this site there is a proposed 60-storey condominium building designed by IBI Group for CentreCourt. The proposed building looks something like this:
314 Jarvis Street
Future home of JAC condos
The house at 314 Jarvis Street was built in 1865 and is known as the Sheard House. The house was in the family for decades with some prominent members of the community living here. Joseph Sheard was the mayor of Toronto from 1871 to 1872. In 1901 his son Dr. Charles Sheard renovated the house. Dr. Sheard was Toronto’s Chief Medical Officer of Health and was an MP from 1917-1925.
During WW2 the home was divided into apartments and eventually it was sold to developers. The building was gutted by a fire in January 2016. After years of alternating neglect and abuse, the transformation is under way – the building’s facade will be incorporated into the JAC condos currently being built on the site and will look something like this:
337 Jarvis Street
The house at 337 Jarvis Street was built in 1849 for Samuel Platt. Samuel had made his fortune as a brewer until he went into politics in 1845 as a city Councillor. In 1872 he became involved in planning the young city waterworks before being elected as an independent MP for Toronto East, a position he held until 1882. His house now serves as the Toronto Baptist Seminary, also known as Church House to the pastors who visit there.
336/338/340 Jarvis Street
These three buildings are a legal Triplex. Currently on the market, for sale together as a package, they’re going for a cool $10 million.
336 Jarvis Street The artist Frederick Bell-Smith lived in this house at 336 Jarvis Street
338 Jarvis Street Originally in the Georgian Revival style, the residence was completed in 1871 and remodelled in 1882 with Second Empire detailing
340 Jarvis Street This used to be the location of “The Fireplace Restaurant”, but is now a residence. Like 338 Jarvis beside it, the building was originally built in the Georgian Revival style, completed in 1871 and remodelled in 1882 with Second Empire detailing.
342/344 Jarvis Street
342 Jarvis Street
344 Jarvis Street
I couldn’t find much on these two connected buildings except that they are currently rented as townhouses. Designed in the Italianate style by architects Langley & Langley, this heritage property was built in 1875.
354 Jarvis Street
These days, this building is known as the Margaret McCain Academic Building, belonging to Canada’s National Ballet School.
The Heritage property was completed in 1894. From that year until 1945 The Havergal Ladies College was situated here. Also known as the Radio Building, it was later occupied by CBC Radio and was the main radio studios. Occasionally it was also referred to as the CBL FM Studios. In 1992, the CBC Radio Studios moved to its current location – the Canadian Broadcasting Centre – at 250 Front Street West.
In 2005 the building was re-opened as part of the National Ballet School, and in 2006 the building won two awards: the Ontario Association of Architects Award, and the Architectural Excellence Awards – Institutional B – Award of Excellence.
400 Jarvis Street
Lozinski House
This was originally the 1856 home of Sir Oliver Mowat, the longest-serving Premier of Ontario, a Father of Confederation, and later Ontario’s Lieutenant-Governor. The mansion, originally named Norfield House, was renamed Lozinski House and now houses the National Ballet School’s artistic and administrative offices.
In 2000, 400 Jarvis Street was acquired from the CBC for one dollar. The existing buildings on the site were restored and redesigned by Goldsmith Borgal & Company Ltd. Architects (GBCA). Three new buildings, dubbed Project Grand Jete, were planned and built by GBCA, along with Kuwabara Payne McKenna Blumberg Architects (KPMB). Construction began in 2003, and in 2005 the school relocated here. The major expansion to the school was completed in 2007 at a cost of $100 million.
404 Jarvis Street
This is currently the Betty Oliphant Theatre. Completed in 1863 it also goes by the alternate name of The Blaikie/Alexander House, originally built for J. Blaikie and W. Alexander. In 1988-89 the building was extensively renovated and a theatre added to the rear portion of the historic house.
406 Jarvis Street
Currently home to The Shoe Room, a store belonging to the National Ballet School, the building was completed in 1900 for Jennie H. Irish. Created by the architect Charles John Gibson.
410 Jarvis Street
This building is also known as the John N. Lake House, and was completed in 1905.
410 Jarvis Street has now been acquired by the National Ballet School. In the short-term, the building offers flexible administrative office space. According to the Ballet School’s website:
The long-term goals for the building include an expansive vision for our Toronto campus, further driving the professional ballet training programs to new heights; making dance and ballet more accessible and relevant; providing platforms and spaces for a plurality of artistic voices; and offering new creative hubs for multi-sectoral engagement and arts-driven social enterprise.
412 and 414 Jarvis Street
412 Jarvis Street (left) is a condo building; 414 Jarvis Street (right) is a rental complex
441 Jarvis Street
Currently the office of lawyer firm Johnstone & Cowling. Historically, the building is known as the A.J. Mason House. It was completed in 1881, with the porch added in 1902. Built in the Gothic Revival style, the architects for this building were Bond & Smith. The structure is now a Heritage property.
449 Jarvis Street The Blake House
Currently known as the very popular The Blake House restaurant, this building was completed in 1891 for the original owner Edward Blake and known, not surprisingly, as the Blake House. The architects were Knox & Elliot. Before the Blake House was the The Blake House restaurant, it was the Red Lion, a storied old-school British pub.
The building has heritage status for being one of the last structures in Toronto to mix Victorian and Second Empire architecture.
467 & 469 Jarvis Street
467 Jarvis Street
469 Jarvis Street
Known as the Samuel R. Briggs House, the joined building at 467-469 Jarvis Street was completed in 1872. Around the time of the construction of this house, Samuel R. Briggs was a lumber merchant and the President of the Canada Organ and Piano Company. Created by the architects Langley, Langley & Burke, the house has a designated Heritage status under the Part IV Ontario Heritage Act.
471 Jarvis Street
The house at 471 Jarvis Street was built for Thomas Thompson in 1874. The house goes by the name Elderslie and was owned at one time by Alexander Morris who served as a Conservative for Toronto East. He was in opposition to the government of Oliver Mowat who lived at 372 Jarvis Street.
In recent years the main floor of the building was a Macs variety store. Later it became home to the offices of Lifford Wine, then Vielight, who specialize in photobiomodulation technology.
504 Jarvis Street G.H. Gooderham House
This Richardsonian Romanesque house was built in 1889 for George H. Gooderham. The Gooderham family owned the Gooderham and Worts distillery which dominated the waterfront, today known as the Distillery District. At least half a dozen family members owned mansions within a few minutes walk of George Gooderham’s new mansion.
The conical tower on one side is paired with a bald gable on the other end. Accents are cut from Credit Valley stone.
506 Jarvis Street
The building is known as the J.H. McKinnon House. Built in 1888 in the Queen Anne Revival style, the house is now a heritage property. It was designed by architects Langley & Burke, who created several other impressive Toronto residences back in the late 1880s.
510 Jarvis Street
Thomas B. Taylor had the house at 510 Jarvis built in 1888. Taylor had been involved in three paper mills along the Don River including one at Todmorden Mills. The building now consists of luxury apartments (rentals).
512 Jarvis Street The Gallows House
The Edward Gallow House was built in 1889-90 by E.J. Lennox, the renowned architect who designed Old City Hall and Casa Loma.
When researching this building I was very surprised to learn that the Victorian mansion is now a shelter providing refuge for homeless women. Entitled Mary Sheffield House, it was transformed to a shelter via a joint effort by Fred Victor, a social services organization for homeless and low-income people in Toronto, and the owners of the property, Mike and Giulia Ahmadi. The building is named after Mary Sheffield, who founded a downtown mission to help the poor and destitute, and battled the social problems that plagued Toronto in the late 19th Century.
Prior to its incarnation as the Mary Sheffield House, the building was inhabited by sixteen Jesuit priests for 20 years.
514 Jarvis Street The Rundle House
The Rundle House was built in 1889-90 also by E.J. Lennox. Built in the Queen Anne Revival style and named after Charles Rundle, one of its owners, The Rundle House has been described by Heritage Canada as one of the most important historical properties in the country. It’s currently used as a residence. The building is the end unit of one of the few intact sections of 19th century Jarvis Street.
The Rundle House was derelict by the 1970s, unheated and deserted. The city took it over in the 1980s. Then it was purchased by Virgin Records and they used it as a sort of haven for musicians who could lodge there and use it as rehearsal space.
While researching this building, I found the following interesting bit on the real estate site loopnet.com:
The three storey, 7,567 square foot building consists of 12 guest rooms, a kitchen/dining area, a living room, a recording studio and a small coach house at the rear of the property. Interior finishes are modernized while retaining historic features. The landscaped corner site of rectangular shape has frontages of 75.2 feet on the west side of Jarvis Street and of 150 feet on the south side of Gloucester Street.
515 Jarvis Street The Keg Mansion aka Euclid Hall
Designed by architect William Young in the Gothic Revival style, the building was completed in 1868 for businessman William McMaster. In 1882, it was purchased by Hart Massey of the prominent Massey family who built the agricultural equipment firm Massey Ferguson.
In 1915 the home was bequeathed to the University of Toronto’s Victoria College. It was an art gallery in the 1920s, then a restaurant named Julie’s Mansion, with the Bombay Bicycle Club on the top floor.
The mansion, also known as Euclid Hall, was designated as a heritage property in 1973. The building is rumoured to be one of the most haunted in Toronto.
519 Jarvis Street Chester D. Massey House aka Massey Mansion
519 Jarvis Street is a Toronto heritage building known as the Chester D. Massey House, or alternately, The Massey Mansion. Erected in 1887 by architect E.J. Lennox and renovated most recently in 1907, this official heritage structure stands as the picture of historical elegance along Jarvis Street. The Massey Mansion has an elegant stone arch and entryway, paired with an attractive red brick exterior.
This estate was the childhood home of brothers Raymond and Vincent Massey of the Massey Ferguson farm machinery family. Raymond (1896-1983) grew up to be a movie star, best known for playing Abraham Lincoln on stage and screen. He lived here in this family mansion from 1865 to 1915. Vincent Massey was the first Canadian Minister to the United States, the first Canadian-born Governor General of Canada and the founder of the Canada Council.
571 Jarvis Street The William R. Johnston House
Now Casey House, this building was designed by the architecture firm Langley, Langley & Burke in 1875 for William R. Johnston, a prominent Toronto clothing merchant. At the time, Jarvis Street was lined with large homes owned by the city’s wealthiest residents. The house remained in the Johnston family until 1941 when it became the national headquarters of the Young Women’s Christian Association (YWCA).
In 2001, the HIV/AIDS hospice Casey House bought the property. Casey House was the first independent HIV/AIDS hospice in Canada – and one of the first in the world – when it opened in 1988 on nearby Huntley Street. It provided compassionate, specialized care at a time when many people with HIV/AIDS faced isolation and discrimination. Casey House‘s services evolved and it became an HIV/AIDS hospital in 2016. in 2017, it moved to the renovated and expanded William R. Johnston House. The addition at the rear was designed by Hariri Pontarini Architects with ERA Architects, greatly expanding the capacity of Casey House.
This building is designated under the Ontario Heritage Act, 2002.
Having worked our way almost to Bloor Street East, our tour of historic Jarvis Street buildings comes to a close. If you’re still reading this rather lengthy post, I thank you for sticking with it to the end!
If you’d like to read more about some of the buildings I’ve mentioned, check out this link to The Mansions of Jarvis Street, which I’ve used as reference for some of the buildings listed in my post.
Hello everyone and welcome back after my TOcityscapes hiatus! If you’d like to see what I was up to while in Tuscany, Italy you will find my blog here.
This past weekend I attended Doors Open Toronto and visited a couple of venues. Of most interest to me was The El Mocambo on Spadina Avenue. As someone with a passionate interest in pop/rock music history, I’ve always wanted to see inside the “El Mo” to see what it’s like.
That famous Spadina Avenue palm tree
A Bit Of History
The venue has played a crucial role in the development of popular music in Toronto since 1948 – the place is Toronto music history personified!
Opening in 1948, the El Mocambo was one of the city’s first cocktail bars. The establishment’s name and iconic neon palm sign were inspired by a San Francisco nightclub. At that time, the main floor was converted into a dining hall with a dance floor on the second floor that featured Latin music. Live music was not permitted until July 1948 (imagine that!?), when the Liquor Licence Board of Ontario reversed an earlier ban.
Stairs leading up to the upstairs stage. These are the names of the many acts who performed at the club.Leading up to the stage
Bring On The Rock n’ Roll!
The business and building were bought in 1972 by Michael Baird and restaurateur Tom Kristenbrun. Under the pair’s ownership, the “El Mo” became a youth-oriented blues and rock music venue. It brought bands like Downchild Blues Band (which became the club’s house band), as well as Buddy Guy, Muddy Waters and many others, “up the street” and paid them a regular fee to perform. During the early 1970s, the upstairs featured mostly “retreads” and “has-been” acts, with the occasional group on the rise. Most of the time, drink sales determined which bands would return. The bands would start out downstairs and if the revenue they generated increased, they would sometimes graduate to upstairs. Up and coming performers such as Tom Waits, U2 and Elvis Costello performed at the El Mo in the 1970s.
Debbie rocks out: From a Blondie concert at The El Mocambo, sometime in the late 70s
The Rolling Stones Surprise Gig
On March 4, 1977, looking for a low-key venue to record in, The Rolling Stones played two performances at the club. The second performance occurred the next night, March 5, 1977. The Stones billed themselves as “The Cockroaches”, and club patrons got the surprise of their lives when this band turned out to be the Rolling Stones. The live album of these Stones performances, entitled El Mocambo 1977, was released in 2022.
The stage and club floor, seen from aboveBird’s eye view of the stageThe upper balcony looking down at the stageEl Mocambo stage on the ground floor
Saved, Renovated, Rejuvenated
The club was expected to close after a last show on November 6, 2014. However, on the eve of its impending closure, it was announced that the club had been purchased for $3.8 million by Michael Wekerle, who arranged to renovate it and maintain it as a live music venue. Currently, the El Mocambo is open and operational after its 30 million dollar renovations to two stages, several different bars, a recording studio, private rooms, and dance floors. It looks terrific and has been beautifully restored, with a strong emphasis on the club’s past (and rightfully so).
Concert memorabiliaTicket stubs from from concerts pastThe lower level barThe original booking schedules for acts. The logs showed who was booked, how much they were paid and how much tickets cost to attend the concert. For example, above, Blondie was booked for August 2 and 3, were paid $2,750 for the gig, and tickets were an outrageous $5.50 each!!In the lobby: the original 1948 “Tavern” neon sign, plus an announcement of a concert by “The Cockroaches” (aka The Rolling Stones) during their surprise concerts here on March 4 and 5, 1977.The original 1948 drinks menu – Wow!… drinks for .75 cents!
A private road north of St. Joseph Street, west of Bay Street, is home to red brick Edwardian style mansions that were built in 1892 by Remigius Elmsley as the first subdivisions in the City, located on the former family home, Cloverhill Estate.
The heritage properties are owned by University of Toronto, St. Michael’s College, some serving as student residences. The four houses of residence collectively contain 20 single and 12 double rooms. The buildings underwent a $4 million renovation in 2007.
The remaining houses are used as administrative offices: Founders House (1 Elmsley); Phelan House (3 Elmsley); and Windle House (5 Elmsley).
Developed during the 1890s, Elmsley Place attracted professionals and politicians, including Sir George W. Ross, who lived at No. 1 Elmsley while serving as Ontario’s premier. After the Supreme Court of Canada presided over the extension of present-day Bay Street northward during the 1920s, the college purchased the title to the street. By the late 1940s, the laneway was closed off and the Edwardian-style homes were converted to offices and student residences. Today, cut off from traffic, this tree-lined cobblestone lane is a perfect walk into the heart of the St. Mike’s campus.
The Gates of Elmsley Place A gateway across from the John M. Kelly Library on St. Joseph Street marks the entrance to Elmsley Place, a laneway that was once a prestigious late-Victorian subdivision. The Elmsley family were major 19th-century landowners whose holdings included what became the original campus of St. Michael’s College and the current Bay Cloverhill neighbourhood.
Founders House, 1 Elmsley Place Formerly known as the Sir George Ross House. Sir George Ross was, at various times, a professor, member of parliament, senator, provincial Minister of Education, premier of Ontario, and president of the Canadian Authors’ Society.
McCorkell House, 2 Elmsley Place McCorkell House operates as furnished female student dormitories
McCorkell House, 2 Elmsley Place McCorkell House operates as furnished female student dormitories
Phelan House, 3 Elmsley Place Phelan House was originally called the William E. Chalcraft House
Windle House, 5 Elmsley Place Previously known as the H. Hartley Dewart House. The late H. H. Dewart was a former provincial Liberal leader.
Brennan Hall, South Entrance The Hall is situated on the north end of Elmsley Place, 81A St. Mary Street
Maritain House, 6 Elmsley Place This house contains furnished male student dormitories
Gilson House, 8 Elmsley Place This is the only home on the street which St. Michael’s College does not own.
On the charming little downtown street known as St. Nicholas Street, house numbers 45 to 63 are known as “The Cottages”.
In 1883, The Scottish Ontario and Manitoba Land Company built ten row houses on the east side of St. Nicholas Street and named each cottage after a tree: Beach, Birch, Spruce, Hazel, Rose, Maple, Ash, Ivy, Elm and Oak. The properties were occupied by tenants, with occupations ranging from Saloon Keeper to Minister. The style of construction was Bay-N-Gable on a 18′ 10″ wide lot. These buildings have been designated under Part V of the Ontario Heritage Act. A little alley called Cottage Lane provides access to the rear of the houses.
45 St. Nicholas Street Beech Cottage and Birch Cottage
49-51 St. Nicholas Street Spruce Cottage and Hazel Cottage
53-55 St. Nicholas Street Rose Cottage and Maple Cottage
57-59 St. Nicholas Street Ash Cottage and Ivy Cottage
61-63 St. Nicholas Street Elm Cottage and Oak Cottage
A rare example of a surviving Victorian terraced row, 45-63 St. Nicholas Street is unique to say the least. The street sits just several hundred metres from Yonge and Bloor Streets, yet feels like a quaint neighbourhood block. St. Nicholas Street was, in fact, originally an alley lane before the row was constructed in 1884.
Uno Prii (February 28, 1924 – November 27, 2000) was an Estonian-born Canadian architect. He designed approximately 250 buildings, many in Toronto, but also around southern Ontario and the United States. Some of Prii’s best-known works are apartment buildings in the Annex neighbourhood of Toronto, featuring outlines which make sweeping curves; these are the buildings I’ll focus on in this post.
11 Walmer Road
Curved balconies are a recurring theme on Uno Prii’s buildings. They act as a kind of false front for the standard flat-walled interiors. Prior to its 2018 renovation, 11 Walmer Road was white concrete, a trademark style of Uno Prii. The building was a collaboration with Polish-born carpenter Harry Hiller, who also collaborated with Prii on 44 Walmer Road.
22 Walmer Road (Walmer Flats)
22 Walmer Road, known as Walmer Flats, is an Uno Prii design that is more unusual than his others, in that it is a low-rise eight-storey building. Today, the balcony panels are made of blue glass, but they originally had a more playful design with large circular cut-outs.
The exact date of the Walmer Flat’s construction is unknown, likely dated to late 1956 or 1957. Based on its boxy design and the lack of whimsy seen in most other Prii buildings in Toronto, Walmer Flats is representative of one of Uno Prii’s earlier projects, when the influence of Bauhaus style in his work was stronger.
In the Swinging ’60s, as Toronto began to emerge from its staid conservatism, architect Uno Prii’s Miami Beach-inspired apartment buildings became instant landmarks for their sculptural, flamboyant exuberance. Initially dismissed by the architectural establishment as garish and trashy, Prii’s work began to be rediscovered in the mid-1990s as part of the renewed interest in Modernist architecture and design.
35 Walmer Road
35 Walmer Road, known as The Vincennes, was built in 1966 and signified a new type of apartment building in the Annex. Uno Prii’s designs were a new take on apartment buildings and added a fresh style to the neighbourhood. In contrast to the big and box-like buildings that came before it, The Vincennes was flowing, sculptural, and made of poured concrete.
Rising 15 stories, the building represented the aspirations of city living. Zoning laws in the city required tall buildings to be set well back on landscaped lots, inspiring Prii to create The Vincennes’ large sculptural flare we see today. The futurist sense of Prii’s designs have been described as a symbol of hope and optimism for the future.
A little backstory on The Vincennes:
The home of Timothy Eaton, founder of T. Eaton Co. Ltd., once stood on the same spot as The Vincennes. The Eatons moved into the mansion in 1889, indicating the Annex’s position as “a good address.” After Timothy’s death in 1907, his son and successor, Sir John Eaton, moved out of the Annex, signalling the shift of Toronto’s wealthy family to the surrounding suburbs. Many Annex mansions became boarding houses, student homes, or business offices. Timothy’s daughter, Josephine, gifted the original Eaton house to the Imperial Order Daughters of the Empire in 1934, which served as their headquarters until 1965, when it was sold. Like many of the original mansions, it was demolished to make room for the apartment buildings of the 1960s and 70s.
44 Walmer Road
44 Walmer Road is an excellent example of architect Uno Prii’s unique style. Apartments like this one became commonplace in Prii’s repertoire of buildings.
Affectionately called the Flower Tower, 44 Walmer Road has become one of Prii’s most iconic works. When it was first built in 1969, the balconies had circular, cut-out designs along the railing. This inspired the nickname Flower Tower by Toronto Life because it served as a reminder of the 1960s playfulness of “flower power,” going against then-current ways of building.
Besides the balconies, the circular theme is also found in the canopy structure over the door, where circle cut-outs emit light. It is again repeated with the arches and fountain in front of the building. Uno Prii’s love of circles, loops, and curves gave the building a sculptural sense of fun, making the building stand out against its rectangular neighbours. Uno Prii and his wife Silvia planned to live in the Flower Tower after Uno’s retirement, but the building was so popular and the waitlist so long that the Priis were never able to live there.
In 2001, the Flower Tower was sold to new owners, who renovated the building and removed the iconic circular cut-outs from the railings. One critic stated the change of this “high-sculptural, landmark tower” would drive the city further into “architectural mediocrity.”
Despite protests from tenants and Uno Prii’s family, the Flower Tower’s circular elements were lost. Tenants, architects, and historians called into question the renovation – if architecture is art, does a new owner have the right to change an architect’s original design?
I could see apartment buildings as giant sculptures. I thought people would remember these buildings…I got tired, eventually, of these straight boxes. I thought, let’s have a little fun.
100 Spadina Road
Completed in 1969, Uno Prii’s 100 Spadina Road Apartments is known for its sweeping curves, decorative surfaces, and articulated balconies. The facade’s enormous, parabola-shaped swoops make it instantly recognizable among its neighbours.
In 2002, the building was purchased by new owners. Since then, its has become an excellent example of the care given to preserving heritage sites. The building was given full heritage protection in 2007, a move which saved many of its distinctive elements.
When it was built, the building’s balcony guards were made using mass-produced decorative concrete blocks. These were difficult to maintain and deteriorated over time. At first, the new owners, Park Property Management, in consultation with ERA Architects, Brook Restoration and Ontech Building Consultants, planned to etch the design of the original blocks onto glass fronts. In the end, the designers chose to install a new “fritted” glass guard, which replicated the original design of the decorative blocks.
“Fritted” glass on balcony fronts
To create fritted glass, a special kind of ceramic material called frit is bound to the glass, creating textures and patterns. This method also reduces glare, cuts building cooling costs, and minimizes potential danger to birds. Although the original concrete blocks were not preserved, the new glass design maintained a portion of Uno Prii’s original vision.
485 Huron Street
Brazil Tower at 485 Huron Street is one of a series of 13 buildings listed on the City of Toronto’s Heritage Property Inventory since 2004. As we see again here, Uno Prii was a designer of apartment buildings with rounded curves and youthful, whimsical forms. It is said that his structures recall the optimism of the 1960s; this one, built in 1966, reflects that. The curved balconies, characteristic of many of his designs, add a touch of Miami Beach flair that give the building a rounded profile.
Cromwell, the building management company who maintains this building, has restored this magnificent tower to its original and much-loved appearance. The interior has been revisited to provide the comfort and today’s high-end features. The lobby, hallways, and elevators have been refurbished. The garage, freshly redone, also offers a large designated space for bicycles.
Curvilinear balconies are a recurring feature of Prii towers, but in most cases the undulating shapes act as sort of a false front for standard flat-walled suites. At 485 Huron Street, however, behind the rounded balconies are actual semicircular walls. Like bay windows, these costly but effective elements increase natural light and views.
20 Prince Arthur Avenue
Uno Prii claimed 20 Prince Arthur Avenue, built in 1965, was his favourite building, and it’s easy to understand why: the tower captures space age excitement with a rocket-like profile that flares outward at the base, then soars 22 storeys to scalloped peaks.
Blue-coloured balconies blend into the sky, emphasizing the curving white concrete shear walls. 20 Prince Arthur is probably Prii’s most luxurious and best-maintained building, set in expansive, lushly-landscaped grounds with a freestanding fountain. Unfortunately, my shots taken during a mid-February visit do not show off the grounds to their full potential.
Sweeping smoothly upwards the sheared walls form an exaggeratedly flared base to a rooftop crown 22-storeys above the ground. The building looks futuristic, recreating the lines of a rocket ship or bell-bottom pants, depending on your perspective. But Prii claimed centuries’-old inspiration for the tower’s distinctive feature when he commented:
With Twenty Prince Arthur I finally decided on a contrast of the old and the new. I took the flying buttresses from the medieval cathedrals and I applied them to a modern building.
The rest of the design is restrained: just windows and smooth white surfaces in between the eight evenly spaced buttresses on the building’s south and north faces.
Legacy
Uno Prii died on November 27, 2000, leaving behind a repertoire of architecture in Toronto. Like many great artists, he wasn’t often recognized during his own lifetime. He is credited with changing the face of both the Annex and Toronto, reshaping the skyline with space-age, rocket-like designs, pointing skyward towards a hopeful future.
In 2004, 13 of his buildings, mostly located in the Annex, were listed on the Inventory of Heritage Properties. The interest in Prii’s buildings also stems from young architects. Although many architects of the 1990s didn’t take his work seriously, architects of the 2000s see them with fresh eyes and fewer prejudices. Uno Prii’s work shows us that creativity comes from how the tools and materials at hand can be used in new and fantastic ways.
This has been such an interesting post to research and create, and I’ve learned so much about one of Toronto’s most prodigious architects. Uno Prii has created so many more structures in our city, and I look forward to researching those and creating further posts on this exceptionally talented man and his creations.
FURTHER READING
Want to learn more about Uni Prii and his famous architecture?
I came upon this by accident with a friend when it was under construction. At the time we said we…