12 Charles St - SOLD
The Essentials
A three-bedroom, one-and-a-half bath detached home in the Inner Harbour at Rideau St. Really striking renovations, parking, and garden. The plan right now is to consider any offers at 4 pm on the 7th. But that said, pre-emptive offers may be entertained.
The Bigger Picture
It’s with some real sadness that the sellers put 12 Charles back on the market. They moved in only six months ago and set to work immediately on a pretty ambitious set of upgrades, particularly given how damn hard it is to get good work done, and to find good supplies, in the middle of a pandemic. The plan was obviously to be here a good while. But plans change, and careers evolve. And so a special sort of opportunity now presents itself to local buyers.
There was nothing wrong with the house when they took possession. The two halves of an old duplex had been re-introduced to each other, and a smart new kitchen and baths had been worked into the bright space. That sunroom had been polished up and a new AC unit planted like some steel hibiscus at the back corner. The house was cool enough you needed a new wardrobe.
Most striking of the changes they’ve made this year, at least to my eye, is the new window installed by Aaben along the eastern wall of the front hall. It doesn’t sound like much, but that long slim dash of glass, like a fresh sort of grammar, brings a swath of light into the house early mornings. It paints the oak strip floors and the white walls, falls smitten against the old decorative fireplace. It sets a tone.
The same is true for the flooring changes at the back of the house. The kitchen has been softened with cork, and the sunroom now has these glorious hexagonal tiles the colour of coal. You park in the driveway and come in the back door and I swear it’s as if you’re walking over the smooth, polished crowns of cooled basalt, some new chemistry dreamed up on the set of Bladerunner. Upstairs, ordinary tiling has been removed and the old pine flooring restored and refinished.
The transformation here has been dramatic. Like a lost painting has been restored and unveiled for TV news. Or an actor reshaped by a fleet of trainers for a starring role. It’s a special sort of house that has stepped out of the shadows.
The nitty gritty is in the Realtor.ca listing.
And the pyrotechnics are in the iGuide.
Call your realtor for a showing. Or if you don’t have one of those yet, call us and we’ll be pretty excited to show you around.
