Vogel Creative
38 Lascelles Blvd., Toronto
Asking Price: $3.35-million
Taxes: $14,098 (2024)
Lot Size: 50 by 124 feet
Agent: Heather Harris, Chestnut Park Real Estate Ltd.
The backstory
In the mid-1800s, when the area around present-day Yonge Street and Eglinton Avenue consisted mostly of farm fields, the Chaplin family owned a large swathe of land.
In the early 1900s, William Chaplin and his son James decided to use their holdings to create a new subdivision on the outskirts of the burgeoning city of Toronto.
The duo filed a plan with the city’s registry office in 1913, according to the Oriole Park Association. The zoning bylaws imposed various restrictions, including a mandate that the father-and-son-developers build detached houses and limit the use of stucco on the exterior.
The Chaplin Estates became an upscale enclave of Georgian, Tudor and English cottage-style homes. Many of the houses were designed in the 1920s and 1930s by prominent architects, including the prolific Douglas Kertland.
Mr. Kertland’s institutional work in those years included the design of bank branches, hospitals and churches in towns around Ontario. In Toronto, he won a competition to design the Automotive Building for the Canadian National Exhibition.
Prosperous bankers, lawyers and industrialists hired the architect to design houses in Rosedale, Forest Hill and Chaplin Estates.
In 2002, Lauren Walker and David Coultice purchased their first home together in Chaplin Estates, one month before their wedding.
Mr. Coultice was already familiar with the area from living on nearby Dunfield Avenue during his single days, and they were both drawn to the tree-lined streets and traditional feel of the quiet pocket on the other side of Yonge Street.
They settled into one of the smaller houses on Lascelles Boulevard. The couple didn’t have children yet, Ms. Walker says, but they had already taken note of the schools in the area, and the parks at each end of the street.
By 2005, the couple’s first child had arrived and space in their small house was feeling tight.
They began the hunt for a larger home in the area. Eventually a property just up the street on Lascelles landed on the market.
38 Lascelles Blvd., Toronto.Vogel Creative
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The five-bedroom house on a corner lot provided many of the elements the two were looking for, including extra bedrooms, garage parking for two cars, and a finished basement.
The location a short walk from the Yonge subway line worked well for Mr. Coultice’s commute to work as a securities lawyer in the city’s financial district.
And Ms. Walker, who has a PhD from McGill University with a specialty in archaeology, has always had an affinity for items with provenance.
At 38 Lascelles, she admired the elegant arched door, leaded glass windows and interesting roofline.
“I had always had my eye on this house,” says Ms. Walker.
Later she would visit the Ontario Archives to find the circa 1926 check plans which showed Mr. Kertland’s stamp.
Ms. Walker and Mr. Coultice had their first look inside – along with a horde of potential rivals. With the listing agent setting a date for reviewing offers, Ms. Walker feared the house would be at the centre of a bidding melee.
“I was pretty distraught when we went to the open house – there was a mountain of shoes,” she recalls.
Afraid to get her hopes up, Ms. Walker stayed home while Mr. Coultice went back with the couple’s 10-month-old daughter for a second look around.
After some mulling, the couple decided to show up to the table on offer night. Their offer surpassed those of two competing bidders.
The previous owner had lived in the home for many years, and Ms. Walker sensed that she was looking to pass the torch to new stewards who would appreciate its history.
“It’s a bit unusual to buy two houses on the same street, but it’s not that uncommon to upsize and downsize within the same neighbourhood,” Ms. Walker says.
The house today
The 2½-storey house provides more than 3,100 square feet of above-grade living space, with a centre-hall plan on the main floor.
There’s a large formal living room with a wood-burning fireplace, bay window and room for a baby grand piano.
The more casual family room also has a fireplace and light coming in from windows on three sides.
In the dining room, the bay window, china cabinet and wood-panelled walls have been preserved.
The kitchen at the rear of the main floor has white cabinets, built-in wall ovens and an island. Doors open to a deck and patio.
A grand wood staircase rises to the second floor.Vogel Creative
The couple have updated the heating and cooling systems and made some changes to the decor, Ms. Walker says. The front entrance now has tiles reminiscent of an English country house.
“We wanted to improve the character of the home.”
A grand wood staircase rises to the second floor.
That level has a primary bedroom with a sunroom and ensuite bathroom. There are two additional bedrooms and a family bathroom.
The third floor has two more bedrooms and a two-piece bath.
The finished basement provides a recreation room and an additional bedroom or office.
Outside, there’s a two-car detached garage.
The family expanded when the couple’s son was born, and both children grew up taking lessons in the area, including tennis and music, Ms. Walker says.
“Our little neighbourhood has a strong sense of community,” she adds.
The best feature
Ms. Walker has always been fond of some of the home’s nostalgic elements that have been conserved over the past 100 years, including a built-in umbrella closet. The tray meant to hold gentlemen’s rubber overshoes is still in place.
The buttons used to summon household help are still there too, though no longer in working order.