For Sale: My Favourite House…

(Only from the outside though!)

A few years ago, I wrote about a road of houses, all of which I adore. It’s just a few blocks from my current house, and also from the house where I grew up and also where decorator, Billy Baldwin was raised.This house is on the market for the first time in 50 years! One of the most beautiful things about it is its front door – with a Wedgwood blue door and classic urn motif crowning it. I love the barrel vaulted porch with the gorgeous columns and the wood detail above the second-floor windows. All of the houses in this area are loaded with detail. The floor looks to be some sort of parquet and the stairwell is blocked from view by a wooden screen with inset panels, bannisters and windows.

As you might imagine, after being in the same hands for 50 years, some of the features and certainly some of the décor, is very dated. Nearly every inch of this kitchen is covered in a twee sprigged wallpaper and they’ve blocked the original fireplace. I am hoping that the table and chairs are there for show, because there’s barely room for two cups of coffee!There’s perhaps a bit too much of the Williamsburg influence in the house for me, with the plain eight-over-eight windows and simple furnishings. I think that some curtains would really soften the look of these rooms. It does look like the hardware for the rods is still in place. While the dining room has lace curtains, there’s just too much whiteness in this room. Perhaps this was on the real estate agent’s advice?Although there is great detail, you really don’t see it.

The house has six bedrooms and two full and two half baths. I’d love to see if the original baths are still intact. Some of the old baths have great features. I am trying to figure out where this bedroom is located… It almost seems pointless in having a nice long window seat when you can’t see out the windows.It looks like there’s a sun porch or two, with Mexican quarry-tile floors.  It also looks like there’s a bead-board ceiling, but the lights have to go! I do love the door, but it seems sort of commercial with the light and it’s wiring running across the ceiling.

Many of the houses in this neighbourhood are classic shingle-style cottages, originally built before this area was within the city limits. It was country living! There was no air-conditioning then, so these houses have lots of windows for air flow. And this one’s sited at the top of a long hill.The house is on the market for $785,000.  For more images of the house, click here.