City looks to save heritage house owner wants to demolish.
The owner of 79 Dawlish, near Lawrence Ave. and Mt. Pleasant Rd., wants to demolish the home, while the city wants it declared a heritage site.
Staff Photo/MARY GAUDET
North York councillors want a house in Lawrence Park to be saved as a heritage property against the wishes of the owners who are looking to demolish the home.
Councillors voted at the Tuesday, June 22 meeting of North York Community Council to have 79 Dawlish Ave., southwest of Lawrence Avenue and Mount Pleasant Road, included on the city's inventory of heritage properties.
The decision, which would restrict alterations to the property, must still be approved by city council at its July 6 and 7 meeting.
Don Valley West Councillor Cliff Jenkins urged councillors to include the home on the inventory.
"This is truly a heritage property. It has terrific heritage value," he said.
"This truly is a treasure in Lawrence Park."
Jenkins pointed to the house's steeply-pitch roof and pointed dormers evoking French-Canadian architectural styles, adding it has a distinctive and much-admired presence in the neighbourhood.
The home was built in 1928.
It was designed and occupied until 1933 by notable architect Forsey Page, who helped design many homes in Lawrence Park.
His architectural firm, Page and Steele, designed many well-known buildings in Toronto including the Garden Court apartments on Bayview Avenue south of Eglinton Avenue, Benvenuto Place west of Avenue Road south of St. Clair Avenue and Commerce Court in the financial district around King and Bay streets.
Page served as president of the Ontario Association of Architects and the Royal Architectural Institute of Canada.
However, a member of the family that bought the home told councillors the owners oppose including the property on the city's heritage inventory because they are looking to demolish the house.
The man said nothing about the house's potential heritage status was raised when the owners purchased the property.
Questioned by The Mirror following councillors' decision, the man, who would not identify himself, did not want to discuss his reaction.
But York Centre Councillor Michael Feldman, who along with Eglinton-Lawrence Councillor Karen Stintz voted against the decision, said it's unfair to make a house a heritage property after someone has purchased it.
That significantly reduces the financial prospects of the property as a development site and limits changes the new owner can make to the home, he said.
"We've got to be fair," Feldman said.
However, in a letter to councillors, local architectural historian Marta O'Brien urged councillors to prevent the demolition of the house.
"In my experience, the design of this house is unique in our city," she said.
In addition to offering a number of distinct features, O'Brien said the house combines elements of different architectural styles including Georgian Revival influenced by the arts and crafts movement, Cottage Style and the French-Canadian steeped roof.
"The house at 79 Dawlish was part of the second wave of major building in Lawrence Park. The development of this historic garden suburb had been interrupted by World War I but continued in the 1920s," she said.
"Mr. Page's Dawlish Avenue house should be preserved."
At their May meetings, both the North York Community Preservation Panel and the Toronto Preservation Board endorsed having 79 Dawlish designated under the Ontario Heritage Act.