Sunday 16 November 2014

10 quirky things you might not know about Parkdale


Posted by Chris Bateman toronto parkdaleLike many neighbourhoods to the west, north, and east of downtown Toronto, Parkdale was once an independent village. The small community grew up west of the rail tracks, south of Brockton before it was annexed by the City of Toronto in 1889. Until construction of the Gardiner Expressway in the 1950s, the neighbourhood was particularly desirable for its proximity to the lakeshore and the summer amusements at Sunnyside.
Today, Parkdale is an unusual mix of low-income housing, attractive residential streets, and hipster bars, restaurants, and cafes. In 2012, faced with an influx of liquor license applications and concerns the fabric of Queen Street would be irrevocably harmed, the city placed a one-year moratorium on all new Parkdale "places of amusement." Now there's a cap on the number of restaurants and bars allowed on Queen St.
Here are 10 quirky things to know about Parkdale.
toronto fort rouilleThe earliest European settlement in the area was at present day southeast Parkdale
Before there was Fort York or a the associated Town of York, there was Fort Rouillé, a French trading post established in 1750. The little outpost was established by order of the governor of New France in the hope of strengthening the country's position in the Great Lakes. The fort was strategically located to trade with passing First Nations groups and was made up of five buildings protected by a wooden wall. It was destroyed in 1759, but a cairn on the CNE grounds marks its location.
Disneyland's King Arthur Carousel used to be a ride at Sunnyside
Before it was a fixture at Walt Disney's first theme park in Anaheim, Calif., the King Arthur Carousel was a popular ride at Toronto's summer playground, Sunnyside. When the park closed in 1955 the ride was sold and extensively refurbished by Disney. The ride was constructed by the carousel maker Dentzel in Philadelphia in 1922.
Roncesvalles is named after a tiny village in northern Spain
Colonel Walter O'Hara, an early landowner in the area of present day Parkdale, fought in the small Pyrenees town during the Peninsular War against Napoleon, write Leonard Gould and Allan Wise in their book Toronto Street Names. Sorauren Ave. got its name by the same means--it's also a village in the Pyrenees.
There used to be a railway station at Queen and Dufferin
North Parkdale station was located just south of the rail overpass at Dufferin and Queen. It was built in 1856 by the Ontario Simcoe and Huron Union Railroad Company, which was later absorbed into the Grand Trunk Railway, then Canadian National, and expanded in 1885. It remained in use until 1976 when it fell into disuse and was moved to Sunnyside where it was destroyed by fire in 1977.
There's a secret street off Cowan Ave.
Trenton Terrace is a little pedestrian lane that runs for a few metres off the west side of Cowan Ave., just north of Springhurst Ave. Ten workers' cottages, cheekily built facing south in 1883 in order to squeeze additional homes onto what was originally a single lot, are arranged in a row along the public laneway, each one with a small front porch and little backyard. The street is visually similar to the Wellesley Cottages in Cabbagetown.
toronto melbourne placeAnd another one near Queen and Dufferin
Unlike Trenton Terrace, Melbourne Place is private, meaning the homeowners pay for the upkeep of the street and have the right to kick out unwanted visitors. The street, hidden between two houses on Melbourne St., was built in the style of an English mews. The brick homes are considerably more luxurious than the the wooden workers cottages mentioned above and some appear to retain their original gas lamps.
The first black Canadian doctor lived on Dowling Ave. and attended to Abraham Lincoln
Anderson Ruffin Abbott was born in Toronto in April, 1837. He trained at the Toronto School of Medicine, graduating in 1861, and worked as a surgeon in the U.S. army during the country's civil war. He became acquainted with president Abraham Lincoln and attended to him as he lay dying from gunshot wounds at the Petersen House in Washington D.C. in 1865. He was later presented with a shawl worn by Lincoln at his first inauguration by Mary Todd Lincoln. He died in Toronto in 1913 aged 76.
The Palais Royale used to swing to big band music
One of the few surviving pieces of Sunnyside amusement park with the Bathing Pavilion and the Gus Ryder Pool, the Palais Royale started life as a combined dance hall and boat factory. Under new owners after 1932, the lakeshore venue hosted big band performers such as Tommy and Jimmy Dorsey, Count Basie, Bert Niosi, and Duke Ellington. It was saved from demolition in the 1960s and has since been a venue for Echo & the Bunnymen, Blur, The Sadies, Blue Rodeo, Constantines, and the Rolling Stones.
Affordable housing protestors took over an apartment building in 2002
The availability of affordable housing has long been an issue in Toronto, especially in Parkdale, where in recent years rising rents have forced out low-income tenants. In 2002, protestors led by the Ontario Coalition Against Poverty took over a building that was later dubbed the Pope Squat during a visit of Pope John Paul II. The squatters were removed three months later, but the action helped bring national attention to the local housing crisis.
toronto parkdaleThe Gardiner Expressway erased entire streets in south Parkdale
When Toronto's downtown highway arrived in 1955, it ripped the heart out of Parkdale. The road required the demolition of much of Sunnyside amusement park and removed local access to the waterfront. South of the rail tracks, construction of the Gardiner and expansion of Lake Shore Blvd. erased numerous residential streets: winding Empress Cres., Dominion Ave., Starr Ave., Cliff Rd., and Laburnham Ave. More than 100 homes were also demolished.
Chris Bateman is a staff writer at blogTO. Follow him on Twitter at @chrisbateman.

Wednesday 12 November 2014

11 of the Most Amazing and Unusual Homes You’ll Ever See

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What is the most unusual home you have ever lived in? Many of us only know what it is like to live in stucco or brick buildings, with everyday walls, windows, and doors. But there are houses all over the planet that are far different from the traditional, offering a unique way of life, and a place to live that is just as much art as it is a home.
Here are 11 of the most amazing and unusual homes found all over the world.
1. Glass House In Tokyo 
Called the “House NA,” this glass house was designed by Sou Fujimoto Architects to let in a whole new level of natural light. Located on a populated street in Tokyo, Japan, the only thing this house is missing is some privacy. The 914 square foot home was built to be like a tree house with layers of living spaces built in throughout.
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2. Waterfall Home 
There was not enough land to build a full home on this parcel, and so the architect designed a house built into the active waterfall on site. Located on Bear Run in Pennsylvania, this home is truly remarkable.
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3. The Most Narrow House In The world, The Keret House
This home made the best it could out of a very small space. Squeezed between two buildings, the Keret house ranges between 92 and 152 CENTIMETERS in width!
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Do you see it? It’s the small structure crammed between 2 much larger structures.
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4. Boeing 727 Hotel In Costa Rica 
At one point in time this airplane flew people from South Africa to Columbia, but at the end of its career it ended up at the San Jose airport. Here it was purchased for $2,000 and recycled into a home located in Costa Rica.
The 2-bedroom domain has epic views of the ocean and surrounding gardens thanks to the long hallway adorned with endless windows–provided by the plane. It cost $4,000 to transport the plane to Costa Rica, at which point an additional $24,000 was spent in renovations to make the airplane feel like home.
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5. The Hobbit House in Wales 
This house sure makes for some delightful photographs! Making it less of a surprise that a photographer is responsible for creating this house. With some help from his father-in-law, he was able to build this house using all natural materials and only $5,200. His goal was to create a living space that resembled the Lord of the Rings for he and his family to live, within 4-short months the dream was a reality.
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See more houses built right into nature.
6. Brooklyn Clock Tower Home 
This is one unique, and pricey apartment located In Brooklyn’s Clock Tower building. The lavish 7,000 square foot pent house overlooks Manhattan, Brooklyn, and Queens offering up some of the most amazing views in all of New York City. Interested? The price tag reads $18 million dollars.
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7. Flintstones House
Located in Malibu, California, this house is YABBA-DABBA-SWEEETT!!!
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8. Slide House In Japan 
It may look like an ordinary, modern 3-story home with just over 1,700 square feet, but inside this house in Japan has a conventional staircase on one side of the home, and a not-so conventional slide you can alternatively use on the other side of the home.
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9. Crocodile House- Ivory Coast 
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10. Dumpster Home
One man’s trash is another man’s treasure–the old saying just went to a whole new level after you see this dumpster home. Gregory Kloehn is designer from California that turned an old dumpster into his Brooklyn home. It might be a ‘dump’ but he’s added all of the necessary ammentities to a good apartment, he’s got a microwave, mini-stove, some storage space, and even a tiny little toilette!
The best part according to Kloehn? “If you don’t like your neighbors, you can push it a block over.”
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11. Home On The Rock 
Who needs a whole island when you can build a house right atop a rock?! This unique home is located in Serbia.
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Photo Credits: Iwan Baan, domkereta, distractify, LEVEL Architects, BusinessInsider, reuters

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Monday 10 November 2014

Villa Vals


Architects CMA and SeARCH were focusing on the question if it would be possible to conceal a house in an Alpine slope while still exploiting the wonderful views and allowing light to enter the building when planing the Villa Vals. They decided to build a central patio into the steep incline to create a large facade with considerable potential for window openings. The viewing angle from the building is slightly inclined, giving a dramatic view of the beautiful mountains on the opposite side of the narrow valley.
All images © Iwan Baan | Via: Endputin

Thursday 6 November 2014

A tropical home becomes a living sculpture


Artist Carlos Páez Vilaró was born in Montevideo, Uruguay in 1923. He purchased a property along the eastern sea of Uruguay’s scenic Punta Ballena, in 1958, building a small, wooden lodge that over time became “Casapueblo” (“House-Village”). The sprawling compound, a whitewashed cement structure reminiscent of Mykonos, Greece, was built in stages by the artist to resemble the mud nests created by the region’s native hornero birds, and became his home, work studio and museum. Though he resided in Casapueblo, his “living sculpture,” by 1968, Vilaró continued to add on to the structure at his desire, at times adding a room for a particular guest. He later opened a section of Casapueblo to tourism as a hotel. The above photograph is his creation called “Casapueblo” in Uruguay. The photographs below are of his homes on a property in Tigre, Buenos Aires, Argentina called “Bengala,” named after the Bengal Tiger. The original house on the property is used by the artist as a work, at the opposite end of the immense garden hidden in the tropical forest stands Bengal, the astonishing house with galleries and cupolas designed in a similar style to that of Casapueblo. Via
The original building construction is between 140 to 150 years old with a natural Tigre aesthetic.  Vilaró uses this building as his work studio.
In the circular living room is the heart of Bengala. The natural light coming from the roof reflects on the bronze maritime theme artwork above the fireplace.
This is the domed ceiling in the living room.
The circular lines and textured walls envelop every room in the house giving you a clear sense of shelter and warmth.
Every corner is a new discovery. Behind the bar there is a recycled antique train part.
A view from the front door with a staircase featuring a fascinating oval opening and a library consisting of statues and totems from his years in Africa.
This large hallway leads to the guest area.
This corridor connects the main sector with the guesthouses, which operates as a separate house with living room, kitchen and even its own bar.
The dining room table, designed by Vilaro, was made from a huge cable reel. The holes were added to place candles. The beam above the table was salvaged from an old railroad track.
This guest bedroom continues with the lines and curves of the remainder of the house, but is unique in that it breaks from the traditional white.
Although this bedroom is found in an separate building, it is only steps away from the main house and connected through a path of sugarcane plantations.
A table with individual bluish ceramic tiles is encapsulated around a fig and palm tree that acts as a natural parasol. Chairs made out of wicker invites one to a tranquil environment.
The upstairs bedrooms all lead to the same large terrace that transports itself into a world of perforated domes.
The cement domes have been perforated with crystals of colors, inspired by coral reefs and marine animals.
With a scheme that mimics its Uruguayan pair, Bengala was constructed with classic lines and similar standards of design.