One of the most distinctive old homes in the Beaches neighbourhood has been restored and is being showcased this month with all its rooms remade by local designers.
Locally known as the Gardener's Cottage, the old stone house sits on the edge of Kew Gardens on Lee Avenue south of Queen Street. Kew Williams built the home, also dubbed the Honeymoon Cottage, for his bride in 1902.
The City of Toronto owns the house but has allowed the local Rotary Club of Toronto Beach to bring in local designers and businesses to spruce up the historic site and raise funds for the Toronto East General Hospital's Child and Adolescent Mental Health Program.
"This is a rare opportunity to experience life at home at the cottage in the early 1900s," says Barbara Dingle, showcase co-ordinator.
The house was designed in the Queen Anne Revival style, popular in Toronto from the 1880s until the First World War.
"It's encircling verandah, round corner tower and variety of window types (oriels, circular, arched, stained-glass) are all features of this style," says Beaches historian Barbara Myrvold. "Williams built his home with several types of Ontario stone, mostly culled from the nearby lake by Kew and his brothers, who were commercial sailors."
There is a noticeable dividing line between the grey Kingston limestone used for the lower half of the building and the upper layers of brown Dundas shale taken from waters in the Port Credit area. (It is speculated Mr. Williams enlarged the original design and ran out of limestone.) The sills, lintels and surrounds of the lower floor windows are pink sandstone, probably from the Credit Valley.
Mr. Williams built his home on property owned by his father Joseph, a Beaches pioneer who came to the area in 1853 looking for farmland. Joseph Williams prospered and by 1879 had accumulated many properties throughout the area including 20 acres that he named the Canadian Kew Gardens. This pleasure park was a popular picnic and camp-ground for many years.
Joseph sold his property to the city in 1907 and the city gradually bought up other properties including Kew's Honeymoon Cottage to form a city park, officially named Kew Gardens in 1908. All the buildings in the park were eventually demolished or moved except the beautiful stone house, most likely preserved because it was new and built of stone, particularly rare for early houses at the Beach, which, before restrictive bylaws resulting from Toronto's Great Fire of 1904, were almost all built of wood.
By 1911 the house became the official residence of the park caretaker -- an enticing perk of the job -- and became known as the Gardener's Cottage. Between 1911 and 2002 there were five caretakers including Len Stanley and his family who lived there from 1981 to 1995. Stanley's successor was Diana Clark, the first woman to hold the position and the last park supervisor to reside at the house.
At that time, the city decided to make the historic landmark available for community groups for special events, club meetings, workshops, and programs of interest. Local councillor Sandra Bussin approached the Beach Rotary Club to help with much-needed repairs. The club came up with the idea of using the house to showcase Beach-area designers, who were asked to adopt one room and revive it in turn-of-the-century style.
"The response to the call to action was phenomenal, and the results are breathtaking," says Ms. Dingle. "Each designer's special talent has flourished, their insights mix whimsy with practicality, past treasures with present day materials." Pictures and descriptions of each room, along with a history of the house by Ms. Myrvold, appear in the Gardener's Cottage Dream Tour Magazine, included with an entry fee of $10, or $8 for seniors and students.
The Gardener's Cottage Dream Tour runs through to October 10, Wednesday to Sunday, 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. and Wednesday and Thursday evenings, 6 p.m. to 9 p.m. Mondays and Tuesdays are reserved for tour groups of 10 or more.
For information visit http://www.torontobeachrotary.org, or call 416 693-0105.
Staff