234 Sydenham St
The Essentials
A two-bedroom downtown cottage at a rare price. Patio doors to a private courtyard and parking. A galley kitchen and main-floor laundry. Sweetness galore, and that’s important.
The Big Picture
234 Sydenham St is right downtown. You come out that front door first thing, coffee in hand, hair still all over the place (you lucky devil), and hang a left, round the corner at Ordnance, and you’re in McBurney Park. You take a right instead, though, and you’re at Balzac’s in maybe a minute. You’re at The Grand Theatre in two. You reject either option, leathered rebel that you are, and simply cross the street all James Dean-ish, and you’re in the front office of Central Public, a month’s detention surely in your immediate future.
In other words, you choose to live here and you are choosing at the heart of things. Your coffee will never get cold.
It’s a townhouse sweet as a sundae, with a courtyard out back and parking beside it. At this moment in time when a two-bed house with no parking can sell well into the 500s, 234 Sydenham reads like a rare bargain.
It’s also a cottage, at least to my eye. I grew up in England and there are plenty of these little terrace homes between the spot I grew up and the dreaming spires, the punt-filled Cherwell just off the Thames. There should always be roses front and back of house like this, laughter escaping the open windows, a brilliant fish and chip shop on the corner. Even the pink paint (coral, surely?) reminds me of where I came from. And I actively like the picture down below of the car out front of the house. It speaks to the desirability of the locale.
We like this spot very much, in other words. The convenience of the address is mighty important, sure, but there’s the feel of it too. It’s a series of good-natured rooms. There is a the sense (and this despite the fact that I’m no New Age guy) of lives well-lived, of families well-raised and close. It feels good in there, that’s what I’m getting at.
You’ve got a front parlour, a reception room is how it was designed, with lovely pine floors like honey warmed slowly on the stove.. And it’s still separate from the family room behind it, although a weekend’s work could change that. And beyond the patio doors is a smart galley kitchen with a table in the south-facing bay window and a view of the courtyard. You could be in Oxford or Paris or London. Put a good book on the table next to your coffee mug and the world really is your oyster etc etc.
You can see how we feel here. The bedrooms upstairs are more than fine. There’s no ensuite here, or vaulted ceilings. But really? The builders just put those into all the new west-end homes so people will forget how far they are from all the life in the heart of a city, don’t you think?
It’s everything you need it to be, is what I’m saying. And then some.
The Gallery:
