Home of the Week, 3 Melbourne Place, Toronto.
3 MELBOURNE PLACE, TORONTO
THE LISTING
Asking price: $599,000
Taxes: $2,879.76
Agents: Isabel Beveridge and Daniel Lynch, Royal LePage, Johnston & Daniel Division.
THE BACK STORY
As a strategy consultant specializing in corporate branding, Mary Jane Braide is no stranger to makeovers and so didn't balk when in 1989 she first laid eyes on this century-old townhouse near King and Dufferin.
The designated historic red-brick structure looked picture perfect on the outside. But the inside was badly in need of a renovation.
"The inside was in good shape but it was drab and had not been updated since the '70's," says the president and owner of her own MJBraide Corporate Development Company. "I took out a hilarious cedar lined bathroom-dressing room with brown fixtures that looked like a giant sauna as well as metres of café au lait shag carpeting: Really period stuff."
Putting her own stamp on the English Mews-style Victorian was a drawn-out process, a result of Ms. Braide wanting to respect its heritage. With the help of partner John Hanna, an investor in start-up companies who has lived with her in the home since 1998, she worked carefully to preserve original details such as the floors and windows when upgrading the heating and plumbing.
"We've gradually updated all the fundamentals of the house out of a sense of stewardship for the future," she explains. "You feel like you are part of a lineage in a house like this. We love the lines of the house along with the gorgeous windows, and never wanted to argue with any of that."
WHAT'S NEW
The shell is Victorian with much of the original tuck pointing still in place. But the interior of this two-bedroom, two-bathroom home leans toward minimalism, a result of Ms. Braide and Mr. Hanna both being aficionados of Japanese design. A student of Ikibana, the Japanese art of flower arrangement, Mr. Hanna designed the front garden, for instance. He also influenced the choice of slate tile for encasing the tub in the master bathroom and the addition of an updated black-and-white kitchen whose compact minimal style suits a home measuring just over 15 feet wide and 71 feet long. Space is at premium and so much of the interior was renovated with an eye to making the most of what was already there. "We especially love the master dressing room/bathroom space," says Ms. Braide of the spa-like room outfitted with a new Kohler soaker tub and dual plumbed shower. "It's super practical, but also very indulgent for two people who have to get ready for work in the morning. The dual plumbing enables two to shower at once, or use the W.C. while the other dresses." Ms. Braide also praises the efficiency of her remodelled kitchen outfitted with a new BOSCH cooktop and dishwasher and AEG Competence oven and washer-dryer. "The European scale appliances are energy efficient and beautifully designed. So redesigned the kitchen and laundry around them."
BEST FEATURE
This downtown home is part of one of Toronto's original gated communities. The brick wall sheltering it from view has also preserved some of the original Victorian details that make Melbourne Place such a charming enclave – among them, vintage gas lamps and a wrought iron gate at the entrance. This is what Ms. Braide will miss most now that she is selling her home to move with Mr. Hanna to a new house that will be theirs together: "I think what we love most is the continuous stretch of light and space from the courtyard passing out through to the back garden," she says. "Whether as a result of the cozy light of the gas lamps or the afternoon sun passing through the windows, the house feels private, both indoors and out, a rarity in the city."