194 Victoria St - SOLD
The Essentials
A brick home just above Union St, which makes for a so-easy walk to the university’s main campus. Presently a three-bedroom, two-bathroom rental, it could easily accommodate four or even five bedrooms, and if you finished the waterproofed basement you’d be looking at six or seven. It’s that or it’s a family home a bock from Winston Churchill and a couple from Breakwater Park.
Any offers will be reviewed on February 15.
The Bigger Picture
I like the colours and textures here very much. The slate floors throughout the main floor bring to mind a country manor’s ancient flagstones. And with the tenants’ flags and road signs on the walls it’s a bit like a Great Lakes version of Harry Potter in there. But then you move to the back of the house and absorb the curved stainless steel counters in the kitchen, the whole retro-science lab feel of that room (I imagine there must be Bunsen burners on the top shelf, along with row upon row of flasks and test tubes), and you’ll understand when I say they suggest to me a designer raised on a heavy diet of The Jetsons. It’s the future writ large and stylish down near the snow-blasted shores of Lake Ontario.
But you’re not here here for this nonsense, I understand that. Just tell me if it’s a good house, you say. Is it a good investment? A warm place for my kids to rest up between classes? Just give us the facts.
Well yes it is. And yes, and yes again. It’s a good house in a really splendid location, just a nine-minute walk along Union St to the Stauffer library at the heart of the university campus. It’s rented to students now (conscientious caretakers, it must be said) but can be vacant for May 1 and so the chance is there for you to install your own family and friends, or to embark on a few smart renovations. There are three bedrooms proper right now, but there is the potential to close in the second-floor loft and the first-floor library. That would give you five in return for not much more than a weekend’s work. And the basement ceilings are certainly high enough for you to consider finishing that space too, and adding another couple of rooms (the perimeter has already been professionally waterproofed).
There are two full baths (a necessity if everyone is to get along) and a mudroom off the kitchen for all your bikes and your recycling. The yard is deep enough for volleyball and there’s a good shed down at the end for your barbecue and your horseshoes.
