A Game of “Architectural I Spy” for the Toronto Home Hunter

TAKE A GLIMPSE INTO THE ARCHITECTURE THAT HAS SHAPED OUR NEIGHBOURHOODS OVER THE DECADES

Toronto. It’s been described as many things, some kind and some not. In 2010, The Toronto Star asked readers to share their feelings on the city in just seven words or less. They received descriptions ranging from “no aesthetics, congestion: the nega-city!” to “villages disguised as a Big City”. And of course, the typical “New York wannabe” was thrown in, too - just for good measure.

It’s now 2021, more than a decade later, and we’re asking ourselves, “Is Toronto really still seen as a skyscraper city?” Do people, residents and tourists alike, still believe that our city is no more than the towers that are plotted within it? 

We, as Realtors, know that there is more to Toronto than what meets the skyline, and we hope that our clients do, too. Yet here we are; our gaze fixed on the condo buildings that seem to dot the sky, and our hearts set on finding something more. It was time to (literally) set our sights lower.

HOPES HIGH. GAZES LOW. 

Photo Source: torontoism.com

Thankfully, it doesn’t take much to discover the “more” we were hunting for. Take a walk, drive, bike or bus ride through any neighbourhood in the city, and you’ll find it in an instant: character. 

Toronto is home to many architectural wonders, other than its well known buildings like the CN Tower. Some are hidden in alleyways and laneways (like this build here) and some are sprinkled throughout neighbourhoods like this one in Baby Point. But like many things in life, if you don't know what you’re looking for, you might just miss it. 

To help you see the beauty and character within our city, we’ve put together a quick list of architectural insights (kind of like an “I Spy” for the building features). You can pull this list up when you’ve spotted something intriguing that you want to identify, or take a look at it before you head out on your daily walk and see what you can find in your own neighbourhood.

Let’s get started.

I SPY: VICTORIAN HOMES

Queen Anne Revival. Photo Source: unknown

Victorian homes were built in the period of 1837 to 1915 (ish). They can be ornate, colourful, and have features like stained glass windows, dormers, and steeped, pitched roofs designed to draw your eyes upward. Two common styles of Victorian Homes in the city are the Queen Anne Revival and Toronto’s very own Bay & Gable.

Queen Anne Revival was mostly seen as the homes of the wealthy, upper middle classes who had the space and money to build these beautiful mansion like homes. The style is all about asymmetry and excess. The homes feature bright colours, turrets, irregular rooflines and fish scale siding. It’s rarely seen in its pure form in Canada though many houses mixed the design elements with other Victorian styles.

Where To Find: Can be found all around Toronto (Cabbagetown, Parkdale and The Beaches to name a few), but there are very few pure examples left. Most residential housing takes elements of this style and many have been adapted with different additions.

Bay & Gable. Photo Source: trolleybusdevelopment.com

Bay & Gable style homes are most often seen on brick semis or row houses, standing two and a half storeys tall on narrow lots. During the Victorian era, property taxes were based on how wide the lot frontage was. This is why we see such narrow lots (less than 20 feet wide) in the city. It allowed for builders to build and sell more affordable houses. The lot depth didn’t matter in regards to taxes, so the lots were often deep (120-150 feet). In order to make the house feel bigger than it was, they built tall and with large windows to allow in as much natural light as possible. The use of bay windows and decorative gables, which immediately drew the eyes up are what gives this style of architecture its name. Unique to Toronto, the bay-and-gable style rose in popularity in the working class because they were affordable but still elegant.

Where To Find: Look for them all around downtown Toronto and in neighbourhoods like The Annex, Kensington Market, Little Italy, Brockton Village, Cabbagetown, Trinity Bellwoods, Riverdale etc.

I SPY: ART AND CRAFTS

The Arts and Crafts style of home began in the 1880s and came as a reaction to the “tastelessness” of the Industrial Revolution. These home types encourage more of a “cultured lifestyle” and do so through open floor plans, airy rooms that interact with the outdoors, and decorative yet useful objects. This style of architecture does not have any hard aesthetic rules that it follows but instead was designed to have a building created around a living space. The aesthetic was to provide a beautiful living space built in harmony with nature and the surrounding area.

The Craftsman Bungalow is perhaps the best known form of Arts and Crafts in Ontario. Others styles such as Tudor Revival, Edwardian & Foursquare home are influenced but he Art & Crafts movement.

From the outside you should be able to determine which section' houses which room or which activity. The house should also have discreet entrances with covered porches or terraces that open out onto a winding, informal gardens. Colours were earth tones with a particular emphasis on wood grain. Features such as strong posts, rafters extending past the roof line, overhanging gables and exposed beams emphasized the structural integrity of the building. The house is usually set low to the ground, roofs are steeply pitched, and there are often multiple chimneys.

Where To Find: Scattered throughout the city you will often find arts and craft style homes in The Beaches, Wychwood Park, High Park, Bloor West Village & Lawrence Park.

I SPY: CONTEMPORARY

Photo source: CAANdesign

To start off, it is important to differentiate “contemporary” and “modern” style. Modern is its own distinct style, from a time period of the mid-20th century, that describes mid-century modern style. The contemporary style often draws on modern design, but modern design is a precursor to contemporary and there is a difference!

The contemporary home is a type that you might spot often, either on its own or as an addition, like this, onto an existing home. It is an increasingly popular style that uses minimalism, large floor-to-ceiling windows, and simple but luxurious materials and colours. They can stand out, especially if they look like this, or if they are surrounded by houses that are more traditional in nature. Contemporary homes focus on simple yet stunning designs, and can use traditional materials, like brick or wood, in innovative but non-ornate ways. You may see flat roofs and large windows to amplify light and warm up the space, or spot unique ways that the outdoors are connected to the inside.

Where To Find: Forest Hill, Humewood-Cedarvale, Rosedale, and scattered through downtown neighbourhoods like Trinity Bellwoods and Chinatown.

Feeling confident enough to start your own house hunt? Join us as we explore the charm, craft and cool of Toronto’s neighbourhoods and homes. We’ll be sharing our favourite finds on Instagram and asking you to join in on our game of “architectural I spy”!