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Old houses, new neighbours
Left to right: 71 Charles East;
595 to 589 Church; 72 Isabella

Houses
(a few still homes)

The four row houses in the centre of this picture date from 1867 to 1878. They are now part of the Church- Isabella Co-operative, surviving as such through a deal with the Goliath next door, Paxton Place (its residential entrance on Charles Street East), built in 1982.

That was after height restrictions were in place. Permission for Paxton Place's 16 floors came in what Patricia McHugh calls a "height for heritage trade."

Heritage, yes, but these are not the oldest houses in the area. One at 372 Jarvis Street -- long known as the CBC's "Kremlin", though the CBC is no longer there -- dates from 1856; a few others for which I don't have dates look to be nearly as old.

On the right of this shot is the Church Street side of 72 Isabella, built in 1917 as the Maxwell and Sheila Apartments. It, too, is now part of the Church- Isabella Co-operative. Pity they didn't keep the old name. The building behind with the pointed roof is the Brewin Co-op on Charles Street East, built in the mid-1990s.

Second Empire duplex, 1878
580 & 582 Church Street
Behind: The Alexandra, 41 Dundonald, late '60s

Even the well-off in Victorian Toronto didn't disdain a duplex. The left side of this one was home to Robert Simpson, founder of the department store chain that bore his name for a century (it's since been bought out by the Hudson's Bay Company).

For a while 580 housed a gay bar and restaurant called Robert's (though Mr. Simpson would likely not have approved); in an earlier incarnation, opened by activist- entrepreneur George Hislop, it was know as Peppermint Park. It's still a restaurant, The Mango, with another more elegant eatery, Spiral, at 582. Together they offer Church Street yet another popular summer patio.

Monteith Street, 1887-1888
North side of Cawthra Park

Eighteen houses in a row -- or, more accurately, 18 units in a single building: there are no firewalls. Upscale now, this stretch was built, as were many rows, for the working classes. One son of a barber did very well: Roy Thomson, born here in 1894 at number 32, grew up to become the newspaper magnate Lord Thomson of Fleet.

The gentry on Jarvis, 1888 and 1889
504 and 506 Jarvis Street

These houses are two of five in a row still standing as evidence of Jarvis Street's former glory. Some others are across the street, among them the 1890 mansion of farm- machinery king Hart Massey -- now the Keg Mansion, a pub.

The house shown here on the left, now a restaurant, was built in 1889 for George Gooderham the younger; his money, and his father's, came from distilling. The architect was David Roberts, who did a lot of work for the Gooderhams, including what is now a postcard favourite, their "flatiron building" at Church and Front Streets.

The second house, built in 1888, was designed by the firm of Langley and Burke. Henry Langley was best known for his churches, often called in to complete the works of earlier architects. He did the spire of F. W. Cumberland's St. James Cathedral -- for which Church Street is named.

Looming behind are the Cawthra Apartments, at 100 Gloucester Street. For more of them -- and more houses, including a bit of the last five in this Jarvis Street row -- see Toronto Modern (amid Victorian).

Church & Wellesley Photos: List / Previous page / Next page: Pre-1950 apartments

Time & Place: Toronto, 1971 / More on Church & Wellesley