One of Toronto’s most notable properties, the Rosedale residence known as Integral House, will be coming to the real estate market next week.
The asking price will be $28-million, according to Sotheby’s International Realty Canada agent Paul Maranger.
The house at 194 Roxborough Dr. was owned by the late James Stewart, a mathematician who authored a ground-breaking series of calculus textbooks.
Dr. Stewart commissioned the Toronto-based firm of Shim-Sutcliffe Architects to design a building that uses curves as an architectural expression of the beauty of calculus. He was also a musician who wanted a space where friends and arts lovers could gather for intimate musical performances.
Brigitte Shim and Howard Sutcliffe created an 18,000-square-foot residence that presents a modest two storeys to the street, then descends into the ravine with a five-storey volume at the rear. Bedrooms sit at the top, while a lower level houses the pool area, where the windows can be made to disappear for open-air swimming.
In between, the building’s centrepiece is a tall, wide, balconied room with a curving glass wall facing onto the ravine. It became the setting for musical soirees and parties, and a sought-after space for benefit concerts.
Throughout, the house is loaded with complex symbols - starting from the front door, where the handle resembles the letter S. Such curves require double integrals, Dr. Stewart explained in 2007 when the house was nearing completion.
Globe and Mail architecture critic John Bentley Mays wrote about Integral House the same year.
“The geometry of the design is dominated by the curve, which is expressed most eloquently in the undulating curtain wall that encloses upper levels of the house. This wall is an ingenious invention that features vertical oak-clad fins canted outward between vertical panes of glass and running in a clear sweep along the facade’s curvature.”
The works of renowned Finnish architect Alvar Aalto provided inspiration, Dr. Stewart told The Globe and Mail.
The project took about 10 years to complete and went on to win a Governor-General’s Medal for architecture.
Dr. Stewart died Dec. 3rd, 2014 after a diagnosis of multiple myeloma.
Globe feature writer Robert Everett-Green described Dr. Stewart in an obituary as a gifted violinist who performed in the Hamilton Philharmonic and the orchestra at Hamilton’s McMaster University, where he taught for three decades.
“At all stages during his adult life, he held musical salons in his home, where many of the guests were math colleagues who also loved music.”
The house was the setting for parties during Pride Week, and Dr. Stewart was a benefactor of many services for LGBT people.
He also promoted young musicians and arts groups by inviting them to perform in the concert space, which was surrounded by viewing galleries.
It has been reported that Mr. Stewart’s executors will give most of the money from the sale of the house to his chosen arts and scientific organizations in the form of endowments and bequests.
The house is scheduled to hit the market on April 22nd. Listing agent Sotheby’s International Realty Canada has lined up a Toronto-based publicist to handle the launch.