8 HIGH PARK GARDENS
ASKING PRICE $2.895-million
TAXES $12,369.76 (2016)
LOT SIZE 50 by 101.3 feet
AGENTS Gilbert Goldstein and Beth Sulman, Sutton Group-Associates Realty Inc.
The previous owners Borje and Margitta Salming bought the house in the 1970s.
The back story
Living in Toronto's High Park neighbourhood in the early 1990s, Linda and Michael Hutcheon would often walk along High Park Gardens on their way to the park. Some of the most gracious houses in the neighbourhood line the quiet street, and the couple picked out the Arts and Crafts-style home at No. 8 as a favourite.
The Hutcheons didn't realize it at first, but the house belonged to the Toronto Maple Leafs player Borje Salming. Mr. Salming was a trail blazing Swede who became the first European player to gain star status in the National Hockey League when he joined the Leafs in 1973.
During the era of team owner Harold Ballard and well-known Leafs such as Tiger Williams, Lanny McDonald and Darryl Sittler, the Swedish defenceman lived in the traditional family home with his wife and two children.
Mr. Salming played with the team for 16 seasons and went on to be awarded a place in the Hockey Hall of Fame. The fans loved him and, during his years in Toronto, he was often spotted in and around the neighbourhood and in High Park.
When a "for sale" sign appeared in front of the property in 1992, the Hutcheons were immediately interested but they weren't sure it made sense to buy a five-bedroom house for just the two of them. When they toured the inside, they appreciated such original Arts and Crafts elements as the bow windows and the beamed ceilings.
They also loved some of the Scandinavian influences introduced by the Salmings. Neither of the Hutcheons have ties to the Nordic countries but they were drawn to the decor chosen by Margitta Salming, who had experience as a clothing designer.
The Salmings replaced an inglenook in the foyer with a more updated fireplace. They painted the heavy, dark wood white to lighten the interior, and added decorative wood trim.
The Salmings lightened the interior by painting the dark wood white.
"They took a sort of dark house and made it light," Ms. Hutcheon says.
The Salmings' renovations included opening up the living room to the dining room and extending the kitchen at the rear of the house. The Hutcheons decided to buy the 4,361-square-foot house and put the space to creative use.
"We promised ourselves we'd throw lots of parties and we have," Ms. Hutcheon says.
Today, they are only the third family to live at No. 8 since it was built in 1922.
The house has seen many opera fund raisers over the years, owing to Hutcheons being on the for the Canadian Opera Company’s board of directors.
The house today
Ms. Hutcheon is retired from the University of Toronto, where she was a professor of English and Comparative Literature. Michael Hutcheon is a semi-retired respirologist and professor of medicine who continues to teach at U of T.
While the two pursued their careers, they also carved out time to co-author several books on opera. Their varied academic and literary pursuits mean they have been able to spread out into the home's many rooms to create private studies and libraries.
One second-floor bedroom with views over the street is currently used as a study with painted wood bookcases lining the walls. The Hutcheons had the bookshelves designed so that they are attached to the wall but they can easily be removed. The lower level also has lots of shelves for their reading collection.
The second-floor bedroom is used as a study, with bookshelves designed to be easily removed.
"When I retired I had to bring the books home from the office," Ms. Hutcheon says.
Guests who arrive at the front door enter into a large foyer with a grand staircase. The living room has lots of space for revellers to gather around the piano that sits in front of the large window.
Ms. Hutcheon is a member of the board of directors at the Canadian Opera Company and the Hutcheons have held many fund-raisers and events for the organization at their home over the years. On many occasions, singers from the company have performed arias as guests circulated through the house and gardens.
"The house can hold 60 to 80 comfortably," she says.
Often the guests end up in the large kitchen, which has a breakfast nook overlooking the backyard, pine cabinets, and a terracotta tile floor. A rear staircase offers an alternate route to the second floor. Doors lead to the back terrace, which is enclosed by a stone wall.
Guests often congregate in the large kitchen during parties.
On the second floor, the house has four bedrooms, a large bathroom with a marble floor and tiles, and a sunroom with windows on three sides.
"You can open the windows and pretend you're outside," Dr. Hutcheon says.
There's a laundry room at the rear and a door which leads to a private balcony under a leafy canopy.
"When the leaves are out, you feel like you're in a treehouse," Ms. Hutcheon says.
The third floor was originally a maze of little rooms, say the Hutcheons, but the Salmings opened it up to create a large master suite. Skylights bring light into the centre and delicate plaster trim lines the walls. There's an ensuite bathroom and built-in cupboards.
The master suite, on the third floor, was originally a warren of smaller rooms.
Another tradition is for Ms. Hutcheon to throw a party for her PhD students on the day they defend their doctoral thesis. After four or five years of research and writing a dissertation, the students undergo a gruelling examination by an academic committee.
Ms. Hutcheon offers each student she supervises the opportunity to invite 50 friends and relatives to a party. The candidates don't tend to plan their own parties, she says, because that would be considered bad luck or hubris.
"But if the supervisor holds a party, she's confident," says Ms. Hutcheon, who estimates the house has been the setting for about 50 such celebrations over the years.
"It's a great rite of passage," Dr. Hutcheon says.
The back terrace is enclosed by a stone wall.
The couple says it has been interesting to see High Park Gardens change through the years. Increasingly, families are moving in with young children.
"When we had our street party, the house was full of kids."
There's a separate garage at the end of the driveway, which Dr. Hutcheon believes was originally a stables. The tall peaked roof means the building could easily be converted into a studio, he adds.
The best feature
The home is full of original character, which includes several bow windows with antique hardware. A main second-floor bedroom has a built-in window seat overlooking the street.