Rosedalians out walking the schnauzer this week were stopped in their tracks by the sight of real-estate agents playing air guitar in front of 18 Chestnut Park Rd.
The house is the residence of Alex Zivojinovic, a.k.a. Alex Lifeson, lead guitarist of the legendary Canadian prog-rock band Rush.
This week, it went up for sale, listed at $5.699-million, and Wednesday's agents' open house was as packed as an arena rock concert, with more than 80 realtors in attendance.
You could identify the fans among them by the way they tended to ignore such selling points as hardwood flooring and the Thermador Professional six-burner stove in favour of the large number of Junos lining the ground-floor library shelves. The trophies are surrounded by upholstered Queen Anne chairs, floral area rugs and paisley wallpaper - hardly the decor you would expect of a rock lord who is also part owner of the Orbit Room on College Street.
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The 54-year-old son of Serbian immigrants (his stage name is a semi-literal translation of his birth name, meaning "life's son"), Mr. Zivojinovic won his share of Canada's top-ranking music awards as a seminal member of the Toronto-born rock trio that just this week launched its latest multi-disc release, Snakes & Arrows Live.
The album, a record of last year's world tour, hits local music stores just as Rush (the first rock group to collectively be made an Officer of the Order of Canada) is busy extending the tour with a string of performances south of the border. The band, which includes bassist Geddy Lee and drummer Neil Peart, plays the Arena in New Orleans today and the Woodlands Pavilion in Houston, Tex., tomorrow.
Torontonians wanting an up-close glimpse of these legends can hang around Rosedale, where Mr. Zivojinovic and Mr. Lee, also a Rosedale denizen, are frequently seen picking up their groceries at the Summerhill Market. But as far as Mr. Zivojinovic goes, they'll have to act fast as it's uncertain whether, after selling his house, the rocker will buy in the neighbourhood.
Word on his exclusive street, home to such leading lights as industrialist and philanthropist Walter Carsen, is that with his two children grown (including son Justin, with whom he was arrested in 2003 during an altercation with police at the Ritz Carlton in Naples, Fla.), Mr. Zivojinovic, like many empty-nesters, will be looking for a home smaller than the 6,000-square-foot behemoth that he has occupied for the past 10 years with wife Charlene.
Call it the rush to downsize.
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