65 HIGHLAND AVE., TORONTO
Asking price: $3.895-million
Taxes: $20,392.46 (2014)
Lot size: 80.5 by 60 feet
Agent: Janet Lindsay (Chestnut Park Real Estate Ltd.)
The back story
Rosedale was a bucolic suburb of Toronto when James Stanley McLean married Edith Flavelle in 1912 and the couple moved into a newly built Edwardian on Highland Avenue. The house next door was owned by James’s brother, Norman McLean.
J.S. McLean would go on to become a powerful force in the meat packing industry. He founded Canada Packers Ltd. in the late 1920s and, in 1929, he moved his family to a large estate called Bay View. That stately home, known today as McLean House, is the setting for weddings and corporate events on the grounds of Sunnybrook Hospital.
Dubbed “The McLean starter home” by current owners Ana Lopes and Don Tapscott, the house is built into a hillside where Highland Avenue and Roxborough Drive intersect. The front door was placed to face the prettiest view, according to Ms. Lopes.
“When the house was built, Roxborough was a garden path,” Ms. Lopes says.
When the McLeans moved on, the Edward McConnell family moved in and lots of children filled the house, Ms. Lopes has learned from chats with the neighbours.
When Ms. Lopes and Mr. Tapscott took over in 1996, the house had been modernized over the years and some of its original details had been lost.
Plaster mouldings had been stripped out, for example, and shag carpets covered the floors. A metal spiral staircase connected the upper and lower floors.
“It just wasn’t what I envisioned the house to be,” Ms. Lopes says. “It had literally lost its charms.”
The family hired architect Peter Turner to revamp the rooms and add back some of the traditional elements.
One day after they had been living there for several years, they saw a man sitting outside the kitchen window. Mr. Tapscott went out to ask if he was okay and the man said he was just reminiscing about the house where he was born. He was a descendant of the McLean brothers.
The house today
Mr. Tapscott is a tech and business guru who has authored and co-authored 15 books on the digital revolution and innovation. Today he is chief executive officer of the Tapscott Group and chancellor of Trent University.
While Mr. Tapscott was often flying around the globe to advise businesses and government leaders, the couple was also raising their two children. They renovated the 5,100-square-foot house in stages over the years.
Guests arrive to a large foyer with a winding staircase open to all three levels. New railings and spindles were added to match the original newel posts, Ms. Lopes says.
The music room has walls of built-in bookcases and a bay window with a built-in seating bench.
The dining room, with a wood-burning fireplace, is separated from the living room by traditional columns. The living room has floor-to-ceiling windows on three sides and French doors leading to a two-tier deck.
The family room has a gas fireplace with a marble surround and a hearth, and French doors leading to the garden.
The main floor principal rooms were refurbished with hardwood floors, trims, mouldings and built-in cabinetry.
Upstairs, the second floor has a three-room master suite with a large bedroom, a sitting room with wrap-around windows, his-and-her bathrooms and a dressing room.
Standing in his study, Mr. Tapscott recalls the first book he wrote in the second-floor room overlooking Roxborough was The Digital Economy. The book was a bestseller that was re-released in an anniversary edition last year.
There is a second bedroom on that level and the study could also be a third bedroom, says real estate agent Janet Lindsay of Chestnut Park Real Estate Ltd.
The third level was opened up to add two more bedrooms, two bathrooms, a sitting room and a playroom.
“This is where our kids really grew up,” Ms. Lopes says. “We opened up everything as far as it would go.”
On the lower level, the home’s original coal cellar has been turned into a wine cellar with a barel-vaulted ceiling, antique brick floor and space for 1,400 bottles. The walls are lined with the ends of reclaimed wood cases bearing the marques of some of the Bordeaux region’s most storied vintages.
The phone, technology and security systems are all cutting edge, says the tech pundit. The built-in entertainment unit is equipped with Class A sound home audio equipment.
“Hey, I’m Don Tapscott,” he says with a grin.
The lower level also has a large recreation room where Mr. Tapscott rehearses with his band, Men in Suits. On a tour of the house, he takes time out to play a few bars on his treasured Hammond B3 organ. The group, which only plays for philanthropic causes, has donated more than $2-million to charity, Mr. Tapscott says.
“This was the family room, the playroom and now the band room,” Ms. Lopes says.
The recreation room has a wall of windows and French doors leading to a terrace in the garden. The house is surrounded by tall trees and lush bushes with landscaping by the Toronto-based firm of Ron Holbrook & Associates Landscape Architects Inc.
There are two driveways – one upper and one lower – and a garage with direct entry to the house.
“It’s a big selling point in Rosedale,” Mr. Tapscott says.
The house sits across the road from Rosedale Park, which offers skating in winter and tennis in summer. There’s also a wading pool, a playground, a running track and a baseball diamond.
“It’s a great neighbourhood with the park,” Mr. Tapscott says. “Almost every day we were over there doing something.”
The couple chose Rosedale because they could have a house with lawns and gardens, yet still live within walking distance of Yonge and Bloor.
Mr. Tapscott, who writes about climate change, networked intelligence and a revolution in transportation in the book Macrowikinomics, says a return to living downtown is intensifying in many cities.
“That’s the biggest trend in terms of urban form.”
He believes cities in Canada and other countries made a mistake after the Second World War when they created the suburbs. The writer and activist Jane Jacobs would write about such sociological concepts as “eyes on the street” and “social capital” in the 1960s and later decades.
“We separated where we live and where we work and where we shop,” he says. “The basic idea is that people want to be downtown and have community.”
The best feature
The family’s favourite gathering spot appeared in an issue of Canadian House & Home that featured three kitchens – a low, medium and high end.
“Ours was the high end,” quips Mr. Tapscott.
Traditional in style, the room has a beamed ceiling, a wrap-around pantry and custom-built cabinets with glass-fronted display shelves. There’s a professional-style range and a built-in refrigerator. A servery connects the kitchen and family room.
French doors lead to an outdoor terrace.
Sitting at the large, marble-topped centre island, the couple’s daughter, Nicole Tapscott, says guests seem to gravitate to the kitchen. She adds that the house makes a comfortable place to entertain.
“This has been the hub for all of my friends,” Ms. Tapscott says. “This was the place that we hosted all of the parties.”