W. K. Lis
Superstar
U. S. example:
China example:
Last edited:
|
|
|
Nail Houses
- Thread starter W. K. Lis
- Start date
U. S. example:
China example:
whatever
Senior Member
For new developments most of the examples we have are for structures that were deemed historically protectable (I'm thinking of the Ballet School, James M. Cooper Mansion, 80/100 Yorkville, etc) although in two of those examples the structures were moved to accommodate new construction. There are a couple holdouts though; the New World laundromat on Parliament is one example, and I suspect something similar happened with the Gerstein Centre and X.
Redroom Studios
Senior Member
there's no point to resisting in China! the sad fact there is that the compensation offered in such cases is nowhere near market value. So your choice is to take little and move or end up with nothing. At least in Canada property owners are offered market value as a minimum... and we dont see the aggressive tactics by developers shown in the picture above.
wyliepoon
Senior Member
I think some of the closest things we have to "nail houses" in Toronto are the farmhouses and old schoolhouses that sit on the fringe of Toronto's suburban developments, surrounded by graded and/or excavated land. There's one at Downtown Markham, and I've also noticed one at Kennedy and Major Mack.
Sometimes there is resistance, but only if there is enough people to stand up to the government/developers. There have been hundreds of riots in China over the past few years due to land disputes between government/developers and locals threatened with relocation. Many of these riots don't make it to the news here in the West.
Sometimes there is resistance, but only if there is enough people to stand up to the government/developers. There have been hundreds of riots in China over the past few years due to land disputes between government/developers and locals threatened with relocation. Many of these riots don't make it to the news here in the West.
Last edited:
vic
Senior Member
There's the house in the Fortino's strip mall on Dundurn St. between King and Main in Hamilton. It was just demolished recently.
http://www.thespec.com/article/565099
More story and better pic:
http://www.thespec.com/article/397054
http://www.thespec.com/article/565099
More story and better pic:
http://www.thespec.com/article/397054
junctionist
Senior Member
I remember seeing a photo of a single Victorian house amidst cleared land for St. James Town with some towers already built in the background. It was quite striking.
W. K. Lis
Superstar
Eaton's couldn't expand into the northwest corner of Queen and Yonge because the original owner's had written in their will that subsequent owners could not to sell the property to the Eaton family.
Eug
Senior Member
Hmmm... The going rate was Y1672 per square foot. At today's exchange rate, that works out to about US$245 per sq. ft.
Archivist
Senior Member
I suppose one could make the argument that the two small houses left on the St. Jamestown super block are nail houses.
600 Parliament
224 Wellesley
600 Parliament
224 Wellesley
adma
Superstar
One of Toronto's most legendary "nail houses" was a tumbledown shack on Holly St just south of Eglinton: then the old lady who lived there died c1990 and it was quickly replaced by a condo.
Plenty of Church/Wellesley apartment-zone stuff would count as nail-housey in some form or another...
Plenty of Church/Wellesley apartment-zone stuff would count as nail-housey in some form or another...
Spoonman
Active Member
Not sure if this qualifies according to the criteria, but there's a solitary, nicely-preserved house on the east side of McCaul between Elm and Orde Sts, amid a sea of parking lots and the Silverstein's Bakery building to the south. I can't recall, but it may be a commercial property. In any case, it's the only vestige of the former residential character of that side of McCaul.
androiduk
Senior Member
This is the house spoonman. I've always liked this place. The story as I remember it is, there were 3 or 4 houses on this site and they were purchased by a high profile lawyer who wanted to tear them all down and create a parking lot but the city wouldn't let him demolish this one.
Spoonman
Active Member
That's the one - thanks for the photo. It really is in wonderful shape, notwithstanding a bit of patina here and there. Anybody know if it's a residence or a commercial property, and assuming the latter, who the tenant is? (although I can't see any signage in the photo)
golodhendil
Active Member
Not a GTA example. But this building, the Last Tenement House, is one of the three or so non-institutional buildings that survived the wholesale destruction of the West End neighbourhood in Boston in the 50s, regarded by many as one of the greatest mistakes in the history of Boston and the policy of urban renewal.
Last edited:
Archivist
Senior Member
My photo of the house at 207 McCaul has a sign that says, rather intriguingly, "Prothemium Institute". I note that it is no longer called that, but I think it must remain used as office space ...
Completed 1875, on the Inventory of Heritage Properties.
Completed 1875, on the Inventory of Heritage Properties.