21 MACKENZIE CRES., TORONTO
Asking price: $1.299-million
Taxes: $4,340.00 (2014)
Lot size: 20 by 100 feet
Listing agent: Harry Gliddon, broker, Re/Max West Realty Inc., Brokerage
Toronto is known for its Victorian homes. There are pockets of them scattered around the city, including the Annex, Cabbagetown and Parkdale.
But as these old dames age, there has been a trend to “modernize” the interiors, by gutting them, minimizing the details and painting everything white.
It’s a fine, livable solution for most. But it wasn’t for Katharine Lochnan and George Yost, who live in 21 Mackenzie Cres., a Queen Anne-style Victorian home in Little Portugal.
“We wanted to restore the house because we love Victorian architecture,” said Ms. Lochnan.
And so the couple – Ms. Lochnan an art historian and curator, and Mr. Yost a retired architect and designer – took it upon themselves to do just that.
The back story
Ms. Lochnan and Mr. Yost are not just causal admirers of Victorian design. They are studied in it and understand its philosophical merit.
That’s why they set off in search of a Victorian home in 1979. When they found 21 Mackenzie, it had the exterior they were looking for but lacked the inside: It had been hacked up in multiple rooms and contained two-and-a-half kitchens on its four levels. But it had one redeeming factor.
“When we saw the arch in the big room that we call the library – which was a master bedroom – we knew. This was it,” said Ms. Lochnan.
They wasted no time in their restoration efforts. Within the first few months of moving in, they had already carved out a new archway reconnecting the dining room and the parlour.
Where the moldings were cracked or the plaster was crumbling, they repaired and added back a British touch to the home.
“I think the English have a special flare for interior decoration. They like comfort and they like elegance,” said Ms. Lochnan. “[Our house] is like a miniature English townhouse.”
The restoration work was spread out over the decades of their ownership, with Mr. Yost planning and re-planning room designs. For example, on the second floor, he repurposed two bedrooms into his-and-hers studies after their children moved out.
The home also shows off Mr. Yost’s skill with the odd dimensions inherent in old homes.
“George is a master of designing small places,” said Ms. Lochnan.
In the second-floor bathroom, he expanded it by giving it a rhomboid shape with nine sides. And in the master suite on the third floor, he used every nook and cranny to build-in storage.
“We used all of the advantages we could of the natural form of the building,” said Mr. Yost.
Even the backyard is an example of Mr. Yost’s creative handyman work. Behind the house used to be a garage and swing set. Now it is a private garden full of woodland plants and blossoming trees and shrubs, including a profusion crab tree, a downy serviceberry and a climbing hydrangea.
Ms. Lochnan and Mr. Yost say that the renovation was important not just from an aesthetic point of view, but also a tribute to the history of the area. Both are well-versed in how the Dundas-Dovercourt area went from being the sprawling garden estate of Foxley Grove to a series of homes for workers in the nearby Massey Harris farm-implements factory, where Liberty Village now stands.
Their home is one of many on Mackenzie Cresent that is actually a heritage-listed property, meaning the exterior has to be left alone but owners can change the interior. The home’s square bay windows on the front level are unique to this part of the city.
Favourite features
Thankfully to many in the neighbourhood, the changes Ms. Lochnan and Mr. Yost made add to the historical atmosphere of the community.
And one of the major ingredients in restoring the Victorian essence of the home was Ms. Lochnan’s use of wallpaper. Most of the house is enveloped in William Morris wallpaper, which are considered collectibles by décor appreciators.
“These houses were built for wallpaper. William Morris believed that you should use paper if you couldn’t afford tapestry in your home because that is what makes a house a home – the wall coverings, first and foremost,” she said. “Wallpaper gives a room tremendous warmth, personality and character.”
Two of the most intricate patterns are on the first floor of the home: Morris’s “Blackthorn” in the dining room and the “Pomegranate & Fruit” print in the vestibular, which is leftover from the restoration of Castle Howard (a historic house in Britain).
“When you’re in the dining room you see the extraordinary effect the wallpaper has,” said Ms. Lochnan. “It becomes almost three dimensional [by candlelight], like the little white flowers will start to almost bounce.”
Perhaps not a surprise, Ms. Lochnan’s favourite room – the master suite – is also covered in William Morris paper, Willow Boughs.
“I find the bedroom is so full of light and uplifting. In the evening, the sun is still up there and you can watch the sunset and you won’t know you’re in the city because it’s so quiet,” she said. “It is more than a bedroom, it also has a sitting room and the deck. It’s like a retreat.”
But for broker Harry Gliddon, Mr. Yost’s gothic study is a special gem in the house.
“You just don’t find that in any homes,” said Mr. Gliddon. “The design was based off of Cardinal Wolsey’s apartment in Hampton Court Palace.”
It has white oak paneling that Mr. Yost recovered from The Anglican Church of the Epiphany and St. Mark Anglican in Parkdale, and the fireplace is from the Grange House.
That isn’t the only spot where recycled materials were used. The dining room and parlour share an oak-and-walnut patterned floor that was originally in a boardroom from Dominion Securities.
It is the way Mr. Yost and Ms. Lochnan were able to weave all of these elements together that give this house its grandeur, said Mr. Gliddon.
“There are a lot of grand renovations and development. And a lot great architects doing wonderful things,” he said. “But they aren’t making character homes like this anymore.”