Tag Archives: estate
Rosedale
Rosedale is likely the most prestigious and affluent neighbourhood in Toronto. The neighbourhood arose on the site of the former estate of William Botsford Jarvis. Rosedale was named by his wife, granddaughter of William Dummer Powell, for the wild roses that grew there in abundance.
Rosedale might just be Toronto’s most majestic neighbourhood. Tucked away and surrounded by two tranquil ravines, Rosedale’s meandering tree-lined streets can seduce you and make you quickly forget that the city centre is just moments away.
It is located north of downtown Toronto and is one of the city’s oldest neighbourhoods. Certainly also one of the wealthiest and most highly-priced neighbourhoods in all of Canada. It is known as the area where the Toronto’s “Old Money” lives, and is home to some of Canada’s richest and most famous citizens, including Ken Thomson who was the richest man in Canada at the time of his death.
Map of Rosedale and Neighbourhood
Rosedale’s boundaries consist of the CPR railway tracks to the north, Yonge Street to the west, Bloor Street to the south, and Bayview Avenue to the east. The neighbourhood is within the City of Toronto’s Rosedale-Moore Park neighbourhood. The neighbourhood is divided into a north and south portion by the Rosedale Valley.
Homes in Rosedale are grand and historic, full of distinguished character. Though they may not be as large as some newer estates found in more suburban Toronto area locales, Rosedale homes abound in exquisite details and traditional beauty.
Dating from as far back as the mid 1800s, Rosedale residences are mostly two and three storey detached designs, some of which feature carriage houses that are the size of a more typical single family Toronto home. An array of architectural styles can be found, including Victorian, Edwardian, Georgian, and Tudor.
Rosedale Real Estate
The occasional contemporary new house might catch your eye, but these tend to be constructed with carefully selected materials to blend in with the surroundings. Luxurious Rosedale condos and moderately priced co-ops complete the Rosedale real estate spectrum.
For the high net worth individual who keeps an office in downtown Toronto, Rosedale is a perfect residential address. The financial district just minutes away by car or subway, with multiple stations nearby. Shopping is plentiful in the fine establishments at Summerhill, at Yonge and Bloor and in the boutiques of nearby Yorkville. Delectable eateries also await along Yonge Street and in Yorkville. Rosedale is also home to Whitney Public School, a junior school with an excellent reputation for academics, arts, athletics, and community involvement.
South Rosedale was first settled by Sheriff William Jarvis and his wife, Mary, in the 1820s. Mary Jarvis, whose frequent walks and horseback rides blazed the trails for Rosedale’s meandering streets (which are one of the area’s trademarks), named Rosedale as a tribute to the abundance of wild roses that graced the hillsides of the Jarvis estate. The Jarvis Family sold the Rosedale homestead in 1864, which led to the residential development of the area soon after.
Rosedale is built among three ravines, preserved as parkland. Rosedale has convoluted routes through the neighbourhood and other physical boundaries, and thus it has low levels of vehicular traffic. Even though Rosedale is located in the middle of Toronto, virtually no vehicular traffic can be heard due to the abundance of trees and foliage that surround the community. The homes are mostly single family detached dwellings.
Chorley Park circa 1930
A noteworthy piece of Rosedale’s History, is that is was home to Ontario’s fourth Government House. The house was called Chorley Park, and it was built for the Lieutenant Governor in 1915. Truly one of the most elegant and massive homes ever on Toronto, it was a criminal shame when it was demolished in 1960 by the city of Toronto to save money. It is now a public park of the same name.
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Contact the Jeffrey Team for more information – 416−388−1960
Laurin & Natalie Jeffrey are Toronto Realtors with Century 21 Regal Realty.
They did not write these articles, they just reproduce them here for people
who are interested in Toronto real estate. They do not work for any builders.
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Building family-friendly condos
Creative solutions are urged to make intensification work for families
Excerpt from an article by Theresa Boyle, Real Estate Reporter, Toronto Star
Toronto’s director of urban design wants to see more family-friendly condominiums built in the city.
During the recent municipal election, candidates such as Ward 20 victor Adam Vaughan suggested too many condominiums offer small units targeted at young singles. When couples settle down and start families, they are often forced to move out to the suburbs.
It’s about creating “real communities with the highrise condominium form,” he says.
The convertible suite is one idea that’s gaining in popularity, he notes. This involves building a large three- or four-bedroom unit in a condominium in such a way that it can be divided into two units, each with separate access to the hallway.
Another idea proposed by Vaughan during the election is to “rough in” connecting doorways between small condo units, so a family can purchase two small units and turn it into a single large one.
Glenn Miller, director of education and research with the Canadian Urban Institute, says it’s necessary for condos to accommodate people through the various stages of their lives.
“I don’t think condos are not family friendly. People think you have to have a backyard to raise children. They have to get over that,” she says.
She adds there’s a parkette across the street for the children, and they love to frolic in the condo‘s amenity spaces. As well, the Toronto Reference Library is directly across the road.
A three-bedroom condo is expensive and families feel that, for the same price, they can get a house with a backyard, she says.
Freedman agrees a shift in mindset is necessary when it comes to raising children in condos.
But he says there are some features that make condos more attractive to families, such as having great playgrounds, parks, community centres, libraries and schools in the area.
But he notes developers in other cities are designing condos with those family-oriented facilities included.
“I understand in New York there are lots of condo buildings that have all kinds of amenities for kids, such as after school drop-in and homework rooms, supervised indoor and outdoor play areas, et cetera.”
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Condominium builders battle for the middle ground
High-rise projects sandwiched between downtown and the suburbs have to offer more to compete effectively
By Derek Raymaker – The Globe and Mail
The vast choice in new high-rise condominium suites in central Toronto has wedged prices and demand in a nice equilibrium, if temporarily.
At an average price of $331 a square foot across Greater Toronto, condominium prices are not spiralling out of control in the same way as new detached homes, even though four high-profile super-luxury projects, including one under the Ritz-Carlton banner, have been launched, driving up the average price.
And Torontonians should be surprised and satisfied to know that condo prices here are in line with most other Canadian cities, and actually a bargain compared with Victoria, Vancouver and Calgary.
When you pull yourself away from the economic analysis (which shouldn’t be too hard) and visit the sales centres of new downtown projects, you’ll find finely tuned marketing machines aiming directly at the lifestyle-oriented instincts of buyers looking for convenience and trendy design.
But it’s location that will always trump these other factors, and a hot corner can be worth all the granite countertops in the world. There are over two dozen condo sales centres currently open in central Toronto, and there would seem to be something for everyone .
The new projects competing with them in Etobicoke, North York and Scarborough need to offer more.
Developers in this grey area of the high-rise market — not quite downtown, not quite suburban — have also gravitated to particular locations featuring either scenery or convenient transportation.
In Etobicoke, the western lakeshore straddling the mouth of the Humber River continues to hit the right notes with buyers. The subway — and subway extensions — have guided North York’s high-rise development. And the Scarborough Town Centre transit and highway corridor is the site of pretty much all of the high-rise projects in that former borough. Of course, these all come with the discount you’d expect for being out of the trendy loop that exists south of Eglinton Avenue.
None of this is rocket science to any savvy marketing team. But there is one key advantage these traditional low-rise neighbourhoods have over the trendy downtown projects that bodes well for future high-rise development. That is the prevalence of tens of thousands of older couples who want to sell their large maintenance-intensive houses, but not leave their neighbourhoods.
There’s also the added bonus that many of these older buyers are able to buy a high-end two-bedroom suite priced at $500,000 or so with no mortgage after they sell their family house for $750,000 in pockets like Lawrence Park or The Kingsway.
Bayview Avenue has been a particularly popular spot for new empty-nester buyers looking for a well-appointed suite with larger square footages than you’d find in downtown Toronto‘s shoeboxes in the sky to handle all the family heirlooms.
Daniels Corporation’s Kilgour Estates, just south of Lawrence Avenue, has been a huge hit with homeowners from the immediate area, with prices starting at $474,000 and going up to $1,586,000 for between 1,072 and 2,293 square feet.
Further north on Sheppard Avenue is Shane Baghai’s St. Gabriel Village, on a site to be shared with a church and to feature an emphasis on energy conservation. It has been on the market for a year with prices at $479 a square foot.
The overall price picture outside of downtown features many projects with fairly expensive suites like those mentioned above, and loads of traditional high-rise condos catering to the first-time buyer on a budget, but not much in between.
The early data for 2006 indicates it’s been a soft market overall in these areas, with a lot of building going on but not much buying.
In west North York, the average high-rise suite price reported for February was $269 a square foot, up a modest 3.8% from February, 2005, according to data compiled by RealNet Canada. The North Yonge Street corridor reports a price of $316 a square foot, up 1.6% from February, 2005, while Scarborough was at $276 a square foot, up 6.1% from February, 2005.
Etobicoke average suite prices are actually above the Greater Toronto average at $359 a square foot in February, up 3.1% from $348 in February, 2005.
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