Nine buyers enter bidding war for Cabbagetown Victorian semi

237 SEATON ST., TORONTO

ASKING PRICE $849,000

SELLING PRICE $999,990

PREVIOUS SELLING PRICE $360,000 (2005)

TAXES $4,454 (2015)

DAYS ON THE MARKET Nine

LISTING AGENTS Michael O'Brien and Michael Grant, Bosley Real Estate Ltd.

The Action: Few Cabbagetown properties could match all the attributes of this semi-detached Victorian, so it easily clocked in more than 60 showings and 300 visitors between two open houses. The whirlwind of activity swept nine buyers into a bidding war, which ended with a $150,990 premium on the $849,000 list price.

What They Got: Red pine floors, a glass-encased vestibule and restored stained glass windows are among the longest surviving remnants of this more than century-old residence, which also retains formal living and dining rooms with fireplaces and 11-foot ceilings, a 1920s eat-in kitchen and rear breakfast room with an exit to the 22-by-95-foot lot and two-car laneway parking.

The top floor of the 2,175-square-foot space is divided up for one of two updated bathrooms, a den and three bedrooms with 10-foot ceilings, while the 1,021-square-foot basement is completely open and unfinished.

The Agent's Take: "I've been an agent for 30 years and this was the best preserved Victorian I've ever seen and my manager of 40 years said the same thing," agent Michael O'Brien says. "There was a beautiful glass vestibule, I've never seen anything like it. So when you step in the front door, there is usually another wall with a door, but in this case, it was all glass."

This property's sense of space was another luxury given its downtown location. "A lot of Victorians in Cabbagetown are long and narrow, but this was a wide, substantial house with really big rooms," Mr. O'Brien states. "The dining room in particular was this wonderful room that was almost perfectly square."