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From the Post:
Jarvis renovations bring promise of better days
The 'Mansion District'
Peter Kuitenbrouwer, National Post
Published: Thursday, April 27, 2006
After a hundred years' absence, the WASPs are returning to Jarvis Street.
"Jarvis Street is coming back," enthuses Ric Tremaine, who has restored three heritage mansions just north of Wellesley Street and opened them as the high-end Gloucester Square Inn. "Jarvis Street is on fire."
Other entrepreneurs, too, are opening new schools and restaurants on Jarvis Street in the beginnings of a revival for the struggling thoroughfare.
At the end of the 18th century, Jarvis was Toronto's Champs Elysees, home to the city's upper crust. The Jarvises, the Masseys, the Cawthras and the Gooderhams -- they all outdid one another to build sumptuous Jarvis Street homes.
"Jarvis and Sherbourne are lined on either side through most part of their extent by the mansions of the upper ten," C.P. Mulvany wrote in Toronto Past and Present in 1884. But by the 1930s the great families had migrated northward, and in 1946 the city sounded the death knell for Jarvis as a destination when crews cut the trees that lined either side of the avenue to widen it for cars. Jarvis today is mostly a bleak and ugly highway.
Now, the upper crust is fighting back, regaining a toehold on Jarvis. Consider a red pile in the Romanesque Revival style, a kind of mini-Old City Hall at 504 Jarvis, just north of Wellesley on the west side. George Horace Gooderham had the place built in 1891. The family sold the house in 1906, but it somehow survived, eventually becoming Angelini's, which lasted a quarter-century as a celebrated Italian eatery.
Enter Bret Snider. A seventh-generation Torontonian, he is descended from United Empire Loyalists and a scion of the Gooderham clan. Two of his forebears defended Upper Canada in the War of 1812.
This March, Mr. Snider took over the lease on 504 Jarvis. With Gerrard Caleo, the Australian who owns the Metropolitan restaurant on Victoria Street, he has reopened the restaurant --with its gilded plaster ceiling, gold chandeliers and walls of carved gumwood -- as the Gooderham House.
Mr. Snider, a father of four, has at the same time meticulously restored the 1884 mansion at 519 Jarvis, just across the street, that was the childhood home for Vincent Massey, who became governor-general of Canada. The day I visited, a ladder leaned against the front portico; a man was painting the trim white while workers lay paving stones in the drive.
"A year ago, this place was arguably a teardown," says Mr. Snider, leading a tour through the home's picture gallery (featuring friezes by the painter Gustav Hahn) and billiards room, which are now classrooms. Last month, the home reopened as the private York College of Industry and Technology, offering diploma programs and language study.
"The bleeding on Jarvis has stopped," Mr. Snider says, stopping long enough to munch on a Mediterranean plate at the Gooderham House, washed down with a glass of Merlot. "These are undervalued cultural assets that we've ignored, and I think that's upsetting."
But he is hopeful for the future. "I really think there's a resurgence in interest in the history of the city," he says. "People are starting to recognize that it's not just the facade, it's the story that matters."
He and his neighbours are now considering a plan to rename the stretch as "The Mansion District," and others are getting in on the revival. Just south of the Massey house is Euclid Hall, once home to Hart Massey, now home to the Keg Mansion, which is closed until next month as crews complete a major restoration.
On the west side, Mr. Tremaine has purchased the historic homes of Edward Gallow, at 512 Jarvis, and Charles Rundle, at 514 Jarvis. The Rundle home, built by E.J. Lennox of Old City Hall fame, had been lovingly restored by Richard Branson as Canadian headquarters for Virgin PLC. "He pissed a ton of money into the house, thank God," says Mr. Tremaine, who has pissed in a great deal more: These days gumwood reproductions of period furniture fill its parlour, along with bronze statues.
I took a stroll down the rest of Jarvis, to Queen Street and back. It is a dispiriting exercise. Jarvis Street's nadir is the Best Western Primrose hotel, at Jarvis and Carlton street, which presents a 23-storey blank cement wall, without so much as a single window, to Jarvis.
On the plus side, I found the Steam Cafe, at 190 Jarvis, a brand-new gem with dark wood floors and leather seats. "They took a risk but it paid off," says Donald McGrath, a server. "We're getting lots of business from the courthouse and the Sears building."
Another jewel is the new home of the National Ballet School, in the old CBC headquarters at 400 Jarvis, which incorporates the Georgian home of Sir Olivar Mowat, a former premier of Ontario.
Now even the City of Toronto is getting into the act., if slowly. In exchange for permission to expand its head office with a building on Jarvis Street, Rogers a few years ago gave the city $1-million for improvements to the street. Among ideas: take out the middle lane, which changes direction during rush hour, and add either a tree-filled median, wider sidewalks with trees, or a bicycle path. But don't hold your breath.
The city has studied Jarvis for two years, says Tim Lapsa of transportation planning. "We are preparing the terms of reference for our next stage of study," he says.
Councillor Kyle Rae says narrowing Jarvis is a tough sell with some. "My colleagues to the north are going to not be happy with it, because that's how they get to City Hall," he says.
Still, as the city studies, others are not waiting around. Mr. Snider next month will bring in ballroom dancing at York College, followed by wine tasting at the Gooderham House.
"My wife has been bugging me for so many years for ballroom dancing," he says.
After so many years, it will be nice to see a little ballroom dancing back on Jarvis Street.
© National Post 2006
AoD
Jarvis renovations bring promise of better days
The 'Mansion District'
Peter Kuitenbrouwer, National Post
Published: Thursday, April 27, 2006
After a hundred years' absence, the WASPs are returning to Jarvis Street.
"Jarvis Street is coming back," enthuses Ric Tremaine, who has restored three heritage mansions just north of Wellesley Street and opened them as the high-end Gloucester Square Inn. "Jarvis Street is on fire."
Other entrepreneurs, too, are opening new schools and restaurants on Jarvis Street in the beginnings of a revival for the struggling thoroughfare.
At the end of the 18th century, Jarvis was Toronto's Champs Elysees, home to the city's upper crust. The Jarvises, the Masseys, the Cawthras and the Gooderhams -- they all outdid one another to build sumptuous Jarvis Street homes.
"Jarvis and Sherbourne are lined on either side through most part of their extent by the mansions of the upper ten," C.P. Mulvany wrote in Toronto Past and Present in 1884. But by the 1930s the great families had migrated northward, and in 1946 the city sounded the death knell for Jarvis as a destination when crews cut the trees that lined either side of the avenue to widen it for cars. Jarvis today is mostly a bleak and ugly highway.
Now, the upper crust is fighting back, regaining a toehold on Jarvis. Consider a red pile in the Romanesque Revival style, a kind of mini-Old City Hall at 504 Jarvis, just north of Wellesley on the west side. George Horace Gooderham had the place built in 1891. The family sold the house in 1906, but it somehow survived, eventually becoming Angelini's, which lasted a quarter-century as a celebrated Italian eatery.
Enter Bret Snider. A seventh-generation Torontonian, he is descended from United Empire Loyalists and a scion of the Gooderham clan. Two of his forebears defended Upper Canada in the War of 1812.
This March, Mr. Snider took over the lease on 504 Jarvis. With Gerrard Caleo, the Australian who owns the Metropolitan restaurant on Victoria Street, he has reopened the restaurant --with its gilded plaster ceiling, gold chandeliers and walls of carved gumwood -- as the Gooderham House.
Mr. Snider, a father of four, has at the same time meticulously restored the 1884 mansion at 519 Jarvis, just across the street, that was the childhood home for Vincent Massey, who became governor-general of Canada. The day I visited, a ladder leaned against the front portico; a man was painting the trim white while workers lay paving stones in the drive.
"A year ago, this place was arguably a teardown," says Mr. Snider, leading a tour through the home's picture gallery (featuring friezes by the painter Gustav Hahn) and billiards room, which are now classrooms. Last month, the home reopened as the private York College of Industry and Technology, offering diploma programs and language study.
"The bleeding on Jarvis has stopped," Mr. Snider says, stopping long enough to munch on a Mediterranean plate at the Gooderham House, washed down with a glass of Merlot. "These are undervalued cultural assets that we've ignored, and I think that's upsetting."
But he is hopeful for the future. "I really think there's a resurgence in interest in the history of the city," he says. "People are starting to recognize that it's not just the facade, it's the story that matters."
He and his neighbours are now considering a plan to rename the stretch as "The Mansion District," and others are getting in on the revival. Just south of the Massey house is Euclid Hall, once home to Hart Massey, now home to the Keg Mansion, which is closed until next month as crews complete a major restoration.
On the west side, Mr. Tremaine has purchased the historic homes of Edward Gallow, at 512 Jarvis, and Charles Rundle, at 514 Jarvis. The Rundle home, built by E.J. Lennox of Old City Hall fame, had been lovingly restored by Richard Branson as Canadian headquarters for Virgin PLC. "He pissed a ton of money into the house, thank God," says Mr. Tremaine, who has pissed in a great deal more: These days gumwood reproductions of period furniture fill its parlour, along with bronze statues.
I took a stroll down the rest of Jarvis, to Queen Street and back. It is a dispiriting exercise. Jarvis Street's nadir is the Best Western Primrose hotel, at Jarvis and Carlton street, which presents a 23-storey blank cement wall, without so much as a single window, to Jarvis.
On the plus side, I found the Steam Cafe, at 190 Jarvis, a brand-new gem with dark wood floors and leather seats. "They took a risk but it paid off," says Donald McGrath, a server. "We're getting lots of business from the courthouse and the Sears building."
Another jewel is the new home of the National Ballet School, in the old CBC headquarters at 400 Jarvis, which incorporates the Georgian home of Sir Olivar Mowat, a former premier of Ontario.
Now even the City of Toronto is getting into the act., if slowly. In exchange for permission to expand its head office with a building on Jarvis Street, Rogers a few years ago gave the city $1-million for improvements to the street. Among ideas: take out the middle lane, which changes direction during rush hour, and add either a tree-filled median, wider sidewalks with trees, or a bicycle path. But don't hold your breath.
The city has studied Jarvis for two years, says Tim Lapsa of transportation planning. "We are preparing the terms of reference for our next stage of study," he says.
Councillor Kyle Rae says narrowing Jarvis is a tough sell with some. "My colleagues to the north are going to not be happy with it, because that's how they get to City Hall," he says.
Still, as the city studies, others are not waiting around. Mr. Snider next month will bring in ballroom dancing at York College, followed by wine tasting at the Gooderham House.
"My wife has been bugging me for so many years for ballroom dancing," he says.
After so many years, it will be nice to see a little ballroom dancing back on Jarvis Street.
© National Post 2006
AoD
