Big old home on a leafy Hamilton street

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129 St Clair Ave., Hamilton

Asking price: $1,389,000

Taxes: $9,862.38 (2022)

Lot size: 50 by 174 feet

Listing agent: Tom Fleming, broker, Judy Marsales Real Estate Ltd

The backstory

Sometimes when you buy an older home you might hear some tales about its history, and sometimes those stories are word of mouth, second-hand sort-of affairs.

And other times your house comes with a literal book, a sort of heritage homeowner’s manual.

“There’s quite a thick book that was produced in the late 80s, and it includes every house on the street with little bios and pen and ink drawings,” said Mark Thompson, who bought 129 St. Clair Ave., with his wife, Ann Thompson, in 2002.

The St. Clair area of Lower Hamilton is well known for its big homes and leafy streets, and there is a preservation district for St. Clair Avenue (which connects to Main Street) also a separate one for the section of St. Clair that becomes a boulevard and runs right to the escarpment that separates the city.

The district was formed by the rapid expansion of Hamilton’s population between 1910 and 1930, when the founding of major steel and manufacturing companies kicked off a boom of real estate speculation. Sandwiched between the worker housing north of King Street and the escarpment to the south, the area bloomed with a variety of middle- and upper-income families and houses. Even as Hamilton went through boom and busts across the 20th century – from the Great Depression to the postwar years and the de-industrialization of the 1970s and 80s – the households on this street were remarkable for their staying power: by the early 90s the average had been only four changes of ownership a house, and almost none had been converted from single-family homes to apartments.

The couple even has the original blueprints for the house, which according to the heritage study was built by James S. McCaughey – a T. Eaton Company executive who was superintendent of the Eaton Knitting Company, one of the factory subsidiaries of the famed retailer. Aside from some of the wallpaper and paint, they have changed as little as possible over the past 20 years living there.

“I’ve been on most of the houses on the street, and 129 really does stand out in terms of the level of preservation: it does look like it was built yesterday,” said Tom Fleming, the listing agent who also lives on St. Clair Avenue. He moved there 15 years ago from Toronto and at the time there was a lively tradition of celebrating New Year’s Eve in the Scottish Hogmanay fashion, where guests tour each other’s homes for a wee dram and a quick visit.

“When we moved here as a gay male couple, we didn’t know what we were getting into,” Mr. Fleming said. “They were so welcoming they included us in their circle immediately; It took some getting used to coming here from Cabbagetown where none of your neighbours speak to you unless your hair is on fire. At first it was a little unnerving – this welcoming and friendliness – it’s one of the reasons we stay on the street.”

In many ways things have come full circle for Hamilton and St. Clair: the city’s real estate values are still elevated, there’s new people moving in all the time and the same things that appealed to the upper middle class in the 1920s still work today: big houses, deep lots, wide avenues and friendly neighbours.

The house today

The Thompson’s house has many of the style cues of the Tudor revival style: double gables, brick and stonework meshing together, a stone archway over the door with a family crest medallion above, and the wattle-and-daub-finish on the upper levels. It’s all protected by the heritage designation, so anything owners want to change would have to go to a committee that approves such things.

Inside, is a trip back to the 1920s with quarter-sawn oak panelling in the foyer that climbs about three-quarters up the walls and follows the stairs up to the second level. Original oak floors flow through to the large formal living room with huge stone hearth fireplace on the right which connects via double French doors to the formal dining room which is also panelled in oak with built-in seating below a long side-bay window. On the back of this space is a lounging solarium that has become the TV room, with a connection to the two-level rear deck (installed by the Thompsons).

This era of home contemplates live-in servants, and from the foyer there is a hallways passage to the kitchen that also connects to the dining room and a second stairwell to living quarters. The kitchen is large with an eat-in area and a central island with bar seating, but having been renovated by a previous owner is probably the room in the house most ripe for a substantial update. Another door connects to the rear deck and yard here.

The yard is deep, with an original two-car garage (truly more of a carriage house than a garage) with attached potting shed and another raised deck at the back of the lot. The lot feels its full 175 feet of depth from that back porch.

Downstairs the basement was done up as an in-law suite by the previous owners, with a full kitchen and living room and a separate bedroom (currently home to the couple’s gym equipment) with an ensuite bathroom. Once, this level was a playroom for the Thompson’s children but with its separate entrance it could be an apartment.

On the second level some of the period details start to jump out: servants buzzers, original hardware and doorknobs, original oak doors and trim, original tubs and tile. There are four bedrooms on this level, one for their daughter (still going to McMaster), one for the other daughter that’s moved out, one that’s served as Mr. Thompson’s home office since 2007, and the primary suite with its own ensuite bathroom. There’s a second shared bathroom off the landing.

The attic level was rarely used by the Thompsons, but with four more bedrooms and another full bathroom it adds to the living space, or office space if that’s more your style. “It is great if you have older kids and they want their own space,” Mr. Thompson said.

Best feature

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The neighbourhood, hands down. “I think in the past 20 years, it’s become much more vibrant,” Mr. Thompson said. “We live near Ottawa Street and Gage Park, which was a little neglected when we got here, now it’s filled with restaurants and antique stores.” And though Hogmanay stopped during the pandemic years, there are hopes it will come back, along with some of the epic Halloween parties hosted by the neighbours.

Now that they are retired they also find themselves exploring the area on foot more.

“We can walk through Gage Park, and the Niagara escarpment is only a couple blocks south, with lovely trails and you can get there very easily,” Mrs. Thompson said. “There’s a rail trail that goes up the mountain, you can bike and walk through there. And there are always people exercising on the stairs, going up and down the mountain.”

It’s even just a 20-minute walk to Tim Hortons Field, and they have taken advantage of last-minute tickets many a time to see the Ticats. Not that you necessarily need to attend if you want to know the score, just leave a window open: “When they score a touchdown you can certainly hear it from our back porch,” Mr. Thompson said.