148 Morse St., Toronto
ASKING PRICE $1,799,000
TAXES $5,964.72 (2016)
LOT SIZE 35 feet by 129 feet
LISTING AGENT Alan Coulter, Broker; Karen Kaiser, Sales Representative, Homeward Real Estate Brokerage
Chances are, if you find something vaguely familiar about Krista Slack's home, you're probably a fan of the sci-fi show Orphan Black.
The bright red door and yellow brick exterior of the house on Morse Street in Leslieville was used as the exterior shot for the home of Mrs. S on the show.
"We do get people who come and take pictures all the time," Ms. Slack said.
Owner Krista Slack spent a decade turning the home back into a single-family dwelling.
The back story
Ms. Slack understands why the producers of the show were drawn to her house because she remembers falling for its appeal when she purchased it in 2004.
At that time, Ms. Slack was living in a loft in the neighbourhood. She knew she wanted a change but wasn't really looking at detached, single-family homes.
"I was just all over the map and really into looking at things in an alternative way in terms of their uses," she said. "And in the end, I ended up with one of the most traditional things you could possibly do – an old house that you try to bring back."
There were a few things that really charmed her when she toured the house: its 10 1/2-foot ceilings in the living room and dining room as well as the side yard and back garden, with its mature plants, tall cedars and two deciduous trees intertwined together.
The high ceilings in the living and dining rooms were one of the selling points when Ms. Slack bought the property.
When Ms. Slack found the house on the market, it was separated into two apartments and had some questionable decor choices.
"It was burgundy and yellow," she said. "I left like I was in the Madison Pub. So you really had to look past the current state."
Despite this and some wear and tear, she knew she had to buy the old Victorian.
After moving in, Ms. Slack set about restoring some of the Victorian's original features, including sanding and staining the original hardwood floors and taking down partitions to reveal detailed plaster archways. Other original decorative details in the home include transoms throughout as well as some stained-glass windows.
Ms. Slack restored the plaster archways, which were original to the home.
The house was built between 1886 and 1890 by the Bryce Brothers (Thomas and Alexander Bryce) and their real estate partner, H.H. Williams, for Toronto alderman William Stewart. Bryce Brothers was one of the largest construction businesses of the time, employing nearly 400 men and constructing up to 100 houses a year in Toronto, according to one historical report.
"They did everything, from the brickwork, the masonry, the timber frames, the plastering," Ms. Slack said. "The only thing they didn't do was the plumbing."
Ms. Slack replaced the original kitchen and bathroom with a master suite.
Beyond preserving the heritage of the home, Ms. Slack spent the next decade renovating the house back into a single-family dwelling. In 2007, she redid the second floor, taking out a "derelict" kitchen and bathroom and replacing it with a master suite, complete with a wall of closets, a fireplace and a bathroom with heated floors.
Over time, she has also upgraded the mechanical elements of the house and replaced the roof and windows.
But the big renovation came in the fall of 2012, when Ms. Slack hired architect Allan Rae and contractors the Fifth Wall Corp. to re-envision her kitchen on the main floor.
The kitchen went through a top-down renovation. Ms. Slack says architect Allan Rae ‘elevated what we would have done.’
"Part of the reason why we went to that extreme [of hiring an architect] is that there was some structure stuff that we knew we had to deal with," she explained.
So they ripped up the floor and the subfloor in the kitchen, fixed the structural support and then replaced it with flooring that matched the original hardwood in the adjoining living- and dining-room space. They also added a storage bench along the wall, as well as new appliances, cabinets and countertops.
"Allan elevated what we would have done," Ms. Slack said. "Like this [kitchen island] is a beautiful shape."
The kitchen was designed to be lived in. A storage bench was added along the wall during renovations.
Favourite features
The kitchen also happens to be both Ms. Slack and her real estate agent Alan Coulter's favourite room.
"This is the heart of the home," Ms. Slack said.
"We designed it to be an entertainment space, but we also designed it to be where we lived," she added while pointing out the outlets on the island where she and her husband plug in to work, and the couch that is built into the wall where they have coffee in the morning.
But with retirement approaching,
Ms. Slack is looking to downsize and so Mr. Coulter was faced with the challenge of pricing this restored Victorian house.
"It's hard to price this because we don't have a direct comparable," he said. "Instead, I'm looking at ranges."
The back garden has tall cedars and two deciduous trees intertwined together.
To figure out these ranges, he searched Leslieville and South Riverdale for recent sales of comparable Victorian houses. He didn't find anything, so he expanded his search to North Riverdale, where he found Victorian semis on skinnier lots were going for $1.6-million to $1.7-million. In Cabbagetown, houses of a similar era were selling for $2.2-million to $2.4-million. And right on Morse Street, a semi – without the heritage bona fides – sold recently for $1.5-million.
"That research was pointing me in the direction of where we're coming out," Mr. Coulter said of the $1,799,000 price tag.
And while Ms. Slack is excited to move on to her next chapter, she is leaving with a fond heart for an old Victorian she didn't expect to really fall in love with.
"It is difficult to leave," Ms. Slack said. "There's an intangible feeling of comfort here."