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A Walk Around South Rosedale

I thought my eagle eyes weren't deceiving me - even in the dead of night, stoned out of my mind, half insane, and travelling at 100 mph I can spot a Marais malaise abrewing when I see one.

Yes, what a gorgeous day. We dropped by the Burlington Art Centre for the wearable art show, had a quick boo at Baird Sampson Neuert's Discovery Landing ( a delightful cross between the TD's banking pavilion, a coffin, and the underside of a Viking longship ... ) where I blew the tornado and ( after failing to see smoke rising over the treetops indicating the presence of your encampment ... ) breezed into Oakvile. There, I had the pleasantly pliant young woman at Abbozzo Gallery show me all their Naoko Matsubara prints. Then, home, continuing along the lake road rather than the expressway, passing a magnificently wild and wooly factory with a sign boasting LUBRICANTS that really ought to be the next Distillery District - I love such untamed industrial landscapes.
 
I would have sent up signals if I'd known you were so near!!

The D&S site is just a block or two closer to Brant Street from where you were, and just around the corner. Hopefully next time you come back you can enjoy a performance and a stroll along the new pier if ever finished.
 
Who does the house on the southeast corner of Cluny and Cresent belong to? I thought it was once the home to a member of the Bromfman family.

It's hard to believe it's all one house. From the look of it, the only thing connecting both ends of the house is that circular portion.
 
The trade journal Construction is an excellent source of info on various public and commercial buildings in Toronto, but also features a number of residences. The house now known as 19 Castle Frank Crescent turned 100 this year, having been built in 1910 for Charles Frederick Paul:

http://www.archive.org/stream/constructionjour04macduoft#page/n31/mode/2up

The scan is weak, but it’s still good enough to zoom in and read the tile mosaic on the fireplace, which appears to say “LUX AGRICOLAE LUX.â€

There is an image in the Toronto Archives from 1913, when it was known as 101 Castle Frank Road:

https://gencat4.eloquent-systems.co...esource/ser372/ss0010/s0372_ss0010_it0160.jpg

There used to be a nice colour image from 2007 at TOBuilt, but that’s not available at this time. Google Street View doesn’t help much because of the heavy foliage blocking the view.
 
Nice find, wwwebster! One can sense certain faint (very faint) Frank Lloyd Wright influences at play here....
 
I think it's great that there are people with the knowledge and interest to debate and analyse these issues of style and architecture. But most people just rely on their "feeling" about something rather than engaging in an analytical exercise drawing on deep pools of knowledge and historical precedent. It's like just feeling that you like someone without preforming a lengthy background check or subjecting them to a battering of deep psycho-analytical tests.

I think that most people like Rosedale and appreciate its "personality" and understand it has a soul that a "McMansion" subdivision lacks. I would suggest however that who you like has a lot to do with your own personal paradigms. You can't fault people for caring about the flashy or ostentatious. Their character and the survival strategy it is based on is no less legitimate than your own.

Personally I love older buildings. My own house is over 100 years old. But really what I enjoy is the adaptive re-use of old buildings. That is, maintaining some of the character of old buildings, while bringing their systems, functionality, and occupational requirements up to modern standards. I would think it a travesty to stucco the brick on an old Rosedale home or build out a massive incongruent addition. On the other hand I would not want to accept it's 100 year old plumbing, power and heating systems. Nor would I mind tweeking it to say, add more natural light into spaces then was fashionable at the time.
 
Good points, TrickyRicky. 35 Rosedale Road is an interesting example of the evolution of taste and design since the 1890's (Rendering is from the Canadian Architect and Builder (Vol.5, 1892, Issue 1): last two photos are from TOBuilt.ca)

cranglehouserosedaleroad.gif


35rosedale.jpg


35RosedaleRd1.jpg


35RosedaleRd3.jpg
 
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Cooool said:
And can anyone tell me if the image in #43 and #44 is a pool or an unnecessary fountain?

http://www.elisekalles.com/listings/1611/gallery
Click to expand...

What a dreadful interior! 2001 A Space Odyssey meets 1950's operating theatre?!

My guess is that is a fountain, or 'water feature' not a pool, as there was no ladder (or maybe at this level the ladder raises out of the water when needed?)
 
I've always wondered. How does a neighbourhood that looks so suburban and low density exist right next to the intersection of Yonge and Bloor? It always boggled me. Won't the land in Rosedale become so valuable as the density and population increases downtown? Will the neighbourhood remain the same for the next 10 to 20 years?
 
Cooool said:
I've always wondered. How does a neighbourhood that looks so suburban and low density exist right next to the intersection of Yonge and Bloor? It always boggled me. Won't the land in Rosedale become so valuable as the density and population increases downtown? Will the neighbourhood remain the same for the next 10 to 20 years?
Click to expand...

I would think any future developer would have to pay HUGE to build there. Plus, there is no way in hell heritage groups would let these houses be destroyed for a condo. Developers would be better off going further north or further south to the waterfront (as is being done).
 
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