Home of the Week: A sturdy house on busy Spadina
Home of the Week, 768 Spadina Rd., Toronto. Asking price: $1.985-million
The house on Spadina Road just south of Eglinton Avenue had been in the same family for decades when lawyer Gillian Stacey purchased it about 10 years ago. ‘Most people would have knocked it down,’ says agent Elli Davis of Royal LePage Real Estate Services Ltd., who helped Ms. Stacey purchase the house at the time. Ms. Stacey says she didn’t want to see another house knocked down and replaced with a faux French château. ‘I am a big fan of restoring, not destroying.’
Spadina Road has become more of a thoroughfare over the years, but Ms. Davis says many people like living so close to the area’s schools and the streetscape of Forest Hill Village, which is just down the street. The boutiques of Eglinton West are also nearby.
Ms. Stacey worked with architect John O’Connor of Basis Design/Build to reconfigure the interior. ‘He brings a very big-picture view to his projects,’ she says. Mr. O’Connor designed the main floor, for example, so that sightlines lead straight from the front door through to the end of the back garden. The formal living and dining rooms remain, but the house now also has a large modern kitchen and family room overlooking the backyard.
Upstairs, two bedrooms were combined into one large master suite with a fireplace and doors leading to a balcony. The ensuite bathroom has a hydro jet tub and a separate walk-in shower. Two other bedrooms and a bathroom are on the second floor.
The third floor can become a large fourth bedroom, but Ms. Stacey uses it as a media room and home office. There is a bathroom with a walk-in shower and a Japanese soaker tub with views of the garden.
Ms. Stacey brought in Christopher Wood of Living Arts Design to handle the decor throughout the house after admiring his eclectic streak and ability to mix old and new.
In Ms. Stacey’s view, the best feature is the garden, which was recently transformed by Green Apple Landscaping. ‘There is a secret garden behind the garage with a rock waterfall and, when the whole garden is in bloom and green, you can’t believe you are in the city,’ she says.