Architectural Oddities and Loopy Landscaping Around Toronto
Toronto is home to some pretty strange houses and front lawns. And living around Dupont and Christie, I've had a chance to take a look at quite a number of them, clustered as they are in this area. I've often wondered, however, where else I could find such quirky architecture and/or laugh-inducing landscaping. Well, by combining the resource (read distraction) that is Google Street View with the recommendations of blogTO's followers on Twitter, my curiosity has been mostly satisfied. I've just taken a virtual tour of some of the weirdest properties in the city, and I thought I'd share the experience.
I don't know the stories behind most of these "projects," but a little digging revealed some interesting information about the ones in my neighbourhod. The infamous white elephant on Yarmouth Rd., for instance, was designed by Matt Donovan as part of his thesis project at OCAD, entitled "An Elephant in the Room." The sculpture was then given to James Lawson, a resident on the street. Although I'm constantly amazed that other residents haven't battled to have the elephant "put to rest," I have to say that having walked by it hundreds of times, it's really grown on me. I can't imagine the street without it.
Just around the corner to the west is another oddity. Known as the "House of Parashos," when I first moved into the area, I thought that it might be an oddly placed Greek restaurant. As it turns out, the house is resident Andy Parashos's ode to Greece, and is the result of years of work.
View Larger Map
Heading back toward the east, I was anxious to see the Street View capture of 473 Clinton St., a property covered with pool cues and other woodworks. Unfortunately, the foliage of the trees on the property covers much of homeowner Albino Carreira's work. For a closer look, check here.
Those unfamiliar with Mr. Carreira's house, might just have seen his minivan around town. Covered in figurines of all kinds, the white Plymouth Voyager resembles something of a moving art installation. Parked just up the street from Carreira's home on the day Google did its sweep, it's thankfully unobstructed and easy to zoom in on.
Believe it or not, all three of the above properties were the subject of an art exhibit curated by Duncan Farnan at the Harbourfront Centre a few years ago.
Moving away from my own area, my information about these oddball houses is less researched. I've heard that the cubes on Sumach St. are actually an occupied home, the architectural design of which was inspired by similar abodes throughout Rotterdam, but I've yet to confirm this.
The "doll house" at 44 Bertmount Ave. is also pretty fascinating, if not from an architectural standpoint (!).
Less gaudy, but still strange is 157 Coxwell Ave.
199 Gladstone Ave. is odd in a subtle sort of way.
The wacky homes at Leslie St. and Bond Ave. may have been around for a decade or so, but never cease to look strange to me. Rumour has it that an architect built the residences to live in himself (herself?), but perhaps someone out there has more details or accurate information.
View Larger Map
It's easy to make fun of these places, but at the end of the day, I firmly believe that they add an intriguing element to this city that it desperately needs. Thanks to our loyal followers on Twitter for so many good suggestions. And, of course, if you know of other wacky properties around town, leave a comment and I'll try to add to the post!
Reader Suggestions:
The tiny house at 36 Hanson St., courtesy of commenter, Mark.
The narrowest house in the city at 339 Shuter St., courtesy of commenter, the Beerad.
A strange, church-like structure at 78 Abbott Avenue, courtesy of commenter, Kevin.
A rival to the "House of Parashos" on Cedarcrest Blvd., courtesy of commenter, Rob
Here's a Twitter recommendation that I forgot. The house is located on Markham St. south of Dundas St. Are those stuffed animals in plastic bags?
Comments (43)
I love the white elephant! I think the tree next to it is a cherry tree and I always imagine the elephant sneaking a cherry when no one's looking...
I also think those purple houses on Bond are crazy, considering the neighbourhood. But cool!
There's an absoutely tiny house at 36 Hanson Street (across from the school). My wife insists it's a shed, but it has its own electric hook-up from the grid, house number, front garden, etc. I've seen a lady watering her garden and going in there, but don't know much else.
The houses at Bond & Leslie were built in the late 80s by an architect. He lived in the one on the left and his sister (or maybe sister-in-law) lived in the other.
There was an article in Toronto Life about a few years back.
I lived north of there off Leslie but went to school in the city. I took the 51 past there all the time and used to wonder who was nuts enough to build them. It's actually a fascinating story if you can find the magazine.
"I've heard that the cubes on Sumach St. are actually an occupied home, the architectural design of which was inspired by similar abodes throughout Rotterdam, but I've yet to confirm this."
Google search for "Rotterdam cubes."
First result.
Google search for "Piet Blom Toronto" (the architect of Rotterdam's cubes).
First result.
Confirmed.
There you go.
The cubes are occupied. During doors open TO we walked by and rang some doorbells, hoping we could convince the people to let us check it out. Turns out they were less then enthused by the idea.
There's a very odd house in my old neighbourhood, around Vic Park and St Clair where East York meets Scarborough. It definitely has some odd architecture, and as I recall my mother telling me, a Mercedes cemented into the driveway behind the gate.
Actually, scrolling one frame over, you can see someone cleaning/maintaining one of the minarets!
No way, someone lives in those cubes on Sumach?! That's nuts. I've always thought they were some kind of public art installation.
The tiny house at 36 Hanson St. is actually a workshop. I've talked to the dude who rents out the space. No one really lives in there full time.
The jerks always come out on the blogto comment threads. I did your google searches, Marc,but what I couldn't find on the first results was whether or not the cube house is currently occupied, something the blogger also mentions. Thanks for wasting my time.
Thanks to Tom for confirming that they are indeed occupied. I think it's cool that somebody actually lives there, even if it is plastered with advertisements.
What's your problem, Marc? Irritated that you didn't think of this idea first for Torontoist? It's a cool blog post, not an academic journal article on Toronto architecture.
The houses on Leslie St. and Bond Ave were not built in the late 80s, I remember watching a show about it, and they were made for some buyers who picked it out after sketches, but once the homes were built they didn't like how it turned out and the houses were put on sale. Everything in the house is a custom size making it really difficult to furnish.
http://www.torontolife.com/daily/urban-decoder/2004/01/01/urban-decoder-architecture-6/
to see Waldo.
Does anyone remember that weird anti-drunk driver house on Simpson near Broadview & Gerrard? If I remember correctly it had panda bears in cages and all these slogans painted all over it. I'm not sure if it is still there.
More interesting T.O. dwellings, with only some overlap:
http://www.tobuilt.ca/php/tooddities.php?&search_fd23=*oddities*
Great, great post showing something great about our city; one of the most enjoyable posts i have read on blogto. it's a shame those rotterdam houses get plastered by advertising though.
I am cracking up! Although the oddity is hilarious, it speaks of the colourful diversity we love in Toronto. Thanks for the warmth and smiles this evening.
You've linked the Clinton St. house to stylenorth.ca (thanks!) and it's worth noting that stylenorth has an entire category, Follies, dedicated to these types of decorating high-jinx: http://stylenorth.ca/blog/category/folly/
Yes! I remember that house (it was sold a year or two ago, and fixed up). There was a storefront on Gerrard (at Logan, across from the Beer Store) that must have been owned by the same person. It also had drunk driving slogans and stuffed animals in the window (and a lot of garbage). It's been sold and fixed up as well. I had heard a long time ago that it was a father who had lost a child to a drunk driver, but was always interested in the true story.
This type of behaviour from the editor of a competing web site makes competing web site look really, really pathetic.
it's so funny to see house of parashos on here. i grew up around the corner from it and remember the rumour that it was an old folks' home.
there's another cool house in toronto…i can't remember where it is, but it's tall, narrow and of a sort of art-deco design. if anyone watches being erica, it was used as the house of the author whose book erica was working on. she goes to his house and finds that he's passed out from taking too many pills. anyone??
Re: "It's easy to make fun of these places, but at the end of the day, I firmly believe that they add an intriguing element to this city that it desperately needs"
Doesn't this post prove that the city didn't "desperately need" quirky residential architecture? Or "intriguing elements" generally? I submit there is plenty to intrigue around here, and if you get out of the house and explore the city on foot instead of on Google you may appreciate this place a little better.
Sorry, but I'm a little tired of these clichéd, unsubstantiated, casual Toronto bashes that take the city's supposed flaws as axiomatic.
I guess you haven't travelled all that much. I love Toronto, but from the standpoint of architectural intrigue, we're pretty low on the global list.
And though you take the time to quote the post, you unfaithfully alter my tense from the present to the past. It desperately "needs" these quirks and oddities because, for the most part, they're in short supply, and it would thus be a shame to lose them (which other commenters point out has happened in the past). At the end of the day, it's pretty clear that you just don't get it in general: highlighting these oddities helps to facilitate the exploration of these properties in person by identifying where they're located.
Sorry, but I'm really tired of under-reasoned and assinine comments like this.
How quickly do we forget that Toronto is still (in the bigger picture) a relatively "new" city. It will get its quirks and character in time, just be patient.
View More Events
Suggest an Event
Join the blogTO Flickr group
Join the blogTO YouTube Group
RSS