THE LISTING
5 WESTGROVE CRES., TORONTO
ASKING PRICE: $2,678,000
TAXES: $16,009 (2011)
AGENT: Boris Kholodov (Royal LePage Real Estate Services Ltd; Johnston and Daniel Division)
THE BACK STORY
Elena and Yuri Kholodov (he owns the construction company, Keystone Group; she is a real estate agent with Forest Hill Real Estate Inc.) purchased this property five years ago after falling in love with it the day it hit the market.
Not wanting anyone else to have it, the couple made a bully offer for $70,000 over asking, which the seller accepted. At the time, the Kholodovs had recently sold their North Toronto home and were looking to buy a lot with which to build their dream house.
Mr. Kholodov is an experienced custom home builder who has built 30 homes for multiple clients in Toronto; he was ready to take on a new challenge: building a house for himself.
“The location of this property was ideal,” he says. “The street is small and quiet and the lot itself picture perfect.
“The old house on that lot was deteriorating, which made it an easy teardown.” In fact, it took just one day for a single bulldozer to raze it.
WHAT'S NEW
No part of the original dwelling remains; everything about the present property is new and made to order.
At just over 3,500 square feet, it boasts four bedrooms, each with a bathroom ensuite, with an additional bedroom and a sauna in the lower level. Sabina Rotenberg of Integral Design Associates designed the home to blend seamlessly with the older homes in the neighbourhood, adding red brick and an elegant front elevation, for instance, to accomplish that goal.
The Kholodovs requested a formal layout for the main level, so Ms. Rotenberg created a main floor with five separate formal rooms: one each for living, dining, office, family and the eat-in kitchen.
The centre hall serves as the hub, with all the rooms fanning outwards from it. The Kholodovs also extensively landscaped the property both front and back, planting large trees to make the property look older than it is.
They are selling now because their children are grown and, as empty nesters, they want to move now to a smaller home that they will again build themselves.
THE BEST FEATURE
The home office has a library and is the most frequently used room in the house. “It is loaded with built-ins and wood panelling, which makes it very practical, yet elegant,” Mr. Kholodov says. “It is very much a place to relax and reflect, or to have an interesting quiet conversation. Every house has its special corner and this is it.”
