- 138 BEDFORD RD.
- WHAT: A ramshackle rooming house reborn as a French-style city house in Toronto's Annex neighbourhood. The three-storey house has five bedrooms and five bathrooms on a 50- by 141-foot lot.
- ASKING PRICE: $5.2-million
- TAXES: $14,736 (2007)
- AGENT: Chestnut Park Real Estate Ltd. (Peter Russell)
AMENITIES: The house has more than 5,000 square feet of above-ground living space, with 10-foot ceilings, and limestone and marble floors.
The front door opens into a vestibule lined with a wall of closets. The dining room has a two-sided, wood-burning fireplace that also warms the kitchen, while the living room has an open limestone fireplace. The dining room is lined with bookshelves.
The kitchen and eating area overlook a courtyard at the back.
138 Bedford Rd. was a ramshackle rooming house, now a French-style city house in Toronto's Annex neighbourhood. (GLENN LOWSON FOR THE GLOBE AND MAIL)
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A curving limestone staircase leads to the second floor, where the master bedroom has a marble-clad ensuite bathroom and walk-in closet. This level also includes a billiard and media rooms.
The third floor has more bedrooms — each with ensuite bath — and a home office.
Quebec-born Claudette Mason has a special affinity with Paris.
When she envisioned a new house for her family, she pictured a place with a European sensibility. She found her inspiration in a glossy tome.
"I bought a book and turned to one page and said, 'That's the house.'"
The book was a blueprint for French country style by Pierre Deux, the New York-based antiques shop that became a retailing tour de force.
But bringing that style to a house dating to 1890 on Bedford Road in the Annex took a lot of patience.
"It was a long project. It took two years."
Ms. Mason and her husband, Fraser Mason, had searched for some time for a suitable property. They finally saw a rooming house in the style known as Richardsonian Romanesque, named for Henry Hobson Richardson.
The house — with six kitchens — was a shambles but it sat on a piece of land that appeared as if it could accommodate the spacious home the buyers had in mind.
Ms. Mason says the location, the wide lot, huge yard and driveway were all appealing. But they couldn't save the original house.
"The bricks were so rotten," she says.
Leaving just enough of the original foundation to maintain the existing setbacks from the street, the owners started to build.
For the interior, Ms. Mason worked with the Montreal-based design firm Atelier de L'Opéra.
Ms. Mason's inspiration started in the dining room, which is a near-replica of the room depicted in Pierre Deux. The space has dove grey panelled walls, elegant proportions, tall ceilings and a fireplace.
"That's what the French have — they know proportions," she says, adding that the books lining the walls add a cozy feeling.
"We love books and I always wanted a dining room library," she says.
Agent Peter Russell of Chestnut Park Real Estate Ltd. notes that "there's nothing vulgar or overdone or too big about this house. It sits so nicely in its surroundings. It's very elegant without being too formal."
The house also provides a backdrop for Ms. Mason's collection of antique furniture and other pieces.
"I love antiques. I go shopping and I come home and find a spot for them."
Ms. Mason found further inspiration in the Christmas edition of a French magazine. She had the painting depicted on the magazine cover reproduced as a mural for the main-floor powder room.
The painting by the artist Felix Philippoteaux shows les gentils hommes du duc d'Orléans.
The kitchen has a six-burner Garland range set into an alcove and a large eating area overlooking the rear courtyard. A hand-painted mural adorns the ceiling. The separate pantry contains the refrigerator, two dishwashers and lots of storage cupboards. The pantry also holds the only item salvaged from the old house — the original enamel-coated sink.
Upstairs, the master bedroom has antiqued mirrors that were distressed by a Toronto company. Ms. Mason says she had trouble finding a craftsman to take on the task.
The windows in the marble-clad bathroom are of a style that's popular in France. The walk-in shower is lined in marble and has a rain head shower.
The billiard and TV rooms provide a place for entertainment. The walls of the TV room have been sound-proofed, Ms. Mason notes.
Mr. Russell notes that the residence is opulent but it is to be enjoyed. "This may be a new house, but it could conceivably last as long as some of those apartments in Paris," he says.
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