As technology progresses to be sleeker, the stylization of houses follows. Modernism in houses, categorised by clean lines and simple geometric shapes, has grown popular as a way to denote wealth and sophistication, which is ironically opposite of what was assumed in times like the Victorian Era, where intricate designs and non-organic shapes dominated.
Although modernist houses are gorgeous in their own right, I believe we should also admire the older residential buildings in Ontario who not only embody the popular design trends of their times but also the history of the developing province. Here are a few of the oldest residential properties in Ontario. 7015 Pond Street, Mississauga, ON Constructed 1840 as a commission by Francis Silverthorn, 7015 Pond Street is one of the oldest homes in the Meadowvale Village area. Silverthorn, a prolific character in Meadowvale history, was thought to have built this home, and owned this home before it became a Methodist Church in the 1840s. It was later purchased and returned to being a residential building. As of October 2012, the current owners purchased the home in 1987, making them the “sixth registered owners of this property”. 7015 Pond Street is a one-and-a-half storey house, meaning that the second floor is only half the size of the first and usually placed off to one side of the house. Some of the original features were maintained including the 12 over 12 pattern windows on the front of the house and the original stucco finishing. Newer renovations, like the board and batten—where “thin strips of wood moulding are placed over the seams of panel boards”—are set in the back of house so that the street-facing portion remains true to the original. 4 Lucinda Court, Brampton, ON As many military servants did in the early 1800s, Captain Abraham Odlum received the Royal Land Grant in the Toronto Gore area, which is now part of modern day Mississauga and Brampton. Some historians suggest that Odlum’s son built the home after the captain's death in 1838. The Brampton Municipal Register of Cultural Heritage Resources, describes the home as a “rare Georgian style Tudor home”. While Georgian style homes are characterised by symmetry, sash windows, a “six panelled front door” and pale colours, the Tudor style used thin pieces of glass, as it was very expensive at the time, “steeply-pitched roofs” and the jettying technique where the upper floors extended past the lower floors. These two styles were centuries apart, making 4 Lucinda Court a unique and interesting property in Brampton history. 469 Broadview Avenue, Toronto, ON John Cox, a veteran of the American Revolutionary, received the land where 469 Broadview currently stands from Lieutenant Governor John Graves Simcoe. At the time, the plot was located in a much more rural area compared to where the home is located now, so Cox began building the cottage far from other homes. Mary, Cox’s wife, sold the cottage after his death in 1807 and it began to receive renovations since then. 469 Broadview’s plot was originally 100 hectares, equal to 1 square kilometre, and “stretched from present-day Danforth to Lake Ontario”. The home was first styled after a log house with long horizontal logs to a Regency Cottage, a one-story home characterised by a symmetrical front, tall and thin windows and balconies with intricate iron fencing. The original wood shingles and most of the logs were covered with the green and white logs that exist on the home to this day. 2021 saw some of the highest demand for residential ownership in history and the forecasts for 2022 are following the same trends. The housing market in the GTA continues to escalate, seeing higher prices and historical highs in demand for residential ownership.
According to the Toronto Regional Real Estate Board’s (TRREB) January 2022 statistics for the Greater Toronto Area (GTA), sales took a dive to 5,636 this month in comparison to January 2021’s 6,888 sales. Even so, this month's sales is amongst the highest in history for January statistics. Similarly, average residential home prices continue to increase as we continue into the first quarter of 2022. The City of Mississauga, an up-and-coming rival to Toronto in city living, is not an exception As of February 19, 2022, Zolo reports an average selling price of $1.19million on all types of residential buildings in Mississauga, while Toronto averaged at $1.20million in the last 28 days. Since February of 2021, Toronto home prices fluctuated but highs stayed relatively the same from $1.113million in May, 2021, and $1.174million in November, 2021 to $1.202million in February of this year. Contrarily, Mississauga witnessed an increase from $1.014million in November of 2021 to $1.194 in February of this year, marking an all time high over the last 12 months. Although prices on the respective types of residential homes in Mississauga have not yet hit Toronto highs, they witnessed a greater increase over the last year. The average price of a detached home in Mississauga as of February 19 of this month is $1.9million, a 25% increase from $1.2million a year ago while Toronto only faced a 21% increase. Townhouse prices in Mississauga grew 30% and condominiums increased 33%, over 5% greater than the increase Toronto townhouses and condos saw. The selling to listing price ratio for residential buildings in Mississauga, according to Zolo, hit 116%, meaning homes were sold for 16% greater than the asking price, whereas homes in Toronto were sold for 13% more than asking price. Residential buildings in Mississauga averaged seven days on the market, six days accounting for only the buildings from the $500,000 to $2.5million range which are the quickest selling buildings in both Mississauga and Toronto. On average, Toronto residential buildings lasted 10 days on the market as of January of this year. Mississauga continues to grow with more residential areas in development, including high rises in close proximity, and will soon resemble the fast-paced and heavily populated atmosphere of Toronto. TRREB estimates that the average selling prices of homes in the GTA, including Mississauga, could see a 12% increase in 2022 in comparison to last year. As the housing market intensifies in Toronto with a larger percentage of houses being put on sale and sold and prices expected to increase throughout the year, Mississauga seems like the next best place to invest in a home. |
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AuthorLarry Weltman is a Customer Service Representative for AccessEasyFunds Limited, or AEF, an Ontario-based firm Archives
November 2022
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