TORONTO

September 27, 1999

From: Managing Director, Toronto Historical Board

Subject:Inclusion on the City of Toronto Inventory of Heritage Properties - - 262 and 264 St. Clair Avenue West (Alexander Davidson House and Coach House)

Purpose:

This report recommends that the properties at 262 and 264 St. Clair Avenue West (Alexander Davidson House and Coach House) be included on the City of Toronto Inventory of Heritage Properties.

Funding Sources, Financial Implications and Impact Statement:

Not applicable.

Recommendations:

1. That City Council state its intention to include the properties at 262 and 264 St. Clair Avenue West (Alexander Davidson House and Coach House) on the City of Toronto Inventory of Heritage Properties.

In August, 1999, on behalf of his constituents, Councillor John Adams requested that the properties at 262 and 264 St. Clair Avenue West (Alexander Davidson House and Coach House) be considered for inclusion on the City of Toronto Inventory of Heritage Properties.

As outlined in the attached report to the Board of Heritage Toronto (August 24, 1999), Heritage Toronto staff evaluated the property according to the Board’s criteria; it is worthy of inclusion on the Inventory of Heritage Properties as a Notable Heritage Property (Category B).

Comments:

At its meeting of September 8, 1999, the Board of Heritage Toronto heard deputations from the property owner and several interested parties. The property owner objected to the proposed inclusion of the properties on the Inventory of Heritage Properties; representatives of a local ratepayers group spoke in favour of the proposed listings. The Board recommended that the properties be added to the Inventory of Heritage Properties.

The properties at 262 and 264 St. Clair Avenue West are identified for architectural and historical reasons. The Alexander Davidson House and its complementary Coach House are good examples of Edwardian Classicism architecture with important surviving interior elements in the house.

Conclusion:

Heritage Toronto recommends that City Council include the properties at 262 and 264 St. Clair Avenue West (Alexander Davidson House and Coach House) on the City of Toronto Inventory of Heritage Properties.

Contact Name:

Ms. Kathryn Anderson

Preservation Officer, Historical Preservation Division, Toronto Historical Board

Tel: 392-6827, ext. 239

Fax: 392-6834

George Waters,

Acting Managing Director

(g:\report\1999\cc99\cc990014.thb)

copy:

Councillor John Adams, City Hall, 100 Queen Street West, Suite A14, Toronto, M5H 2N2

Councillor Ila Bossoms, City Hall, 100 Queen Street West, Suite A17, Toronto,

M5H 2N2

RECOMMENDATION:

HERITAGE TORONTO

PROPERTY RESEARCH SUMMARY

Ward: 23 (Midtown)

Current Name: #262: Hendry Building

#264: not applicable

Historical Name: Alexander Davidson House and Coach House

Construction Date: 1911-1912

Architect: J. Wilson Gray

Contractor/Builder: Gordon Brothers

#264: 1946, garage doors replaced; dormers added

Original Owner: Dr. Alexander Davidson, physician

Original Use: residential (single-family dwelling)

#264: residential (single-family dwelling)

Heritage Category: Notable Heritage Property (Category B)

Recording Date: August 1999

Recorder: HPD:KA/PD report

* this does not refer to permitted use(s) as defined in the Zoning By-law

Property Research Summary

The properties at 262 and 264 St. Clair Avenue West are identified for architectural and historical reasons. The house and adjoining coach house were constructed in 1911-1912 according to the designs of Toronto architect J. Wilson Gray. The property was developed for Dr. Alexander Davidson, a surgeon at Toronto Western Hospital. In 1925, Dr. William Belfrey Hendry, Chief of Obstetrics and Gynaecology at Toronto General Hospital and a professor of medicine at the University of Toronto, acquired the site. The house was named the Hendry Building following its conversion to medical offices in 1946.

The Alexander Davidson House is designed in the Edwardian Classical style favoured for residential and commercial architecture in the early 20^th century. Rising 2½-stories, the house is constructed of red brick and trimmed with artificial stone and wood. The rectangular plan with a stepped facade is covered by a steeply-pitched gable roof with extended eaves and a single brick and stone chimney. Wood dormers with Classical detailing are placed on the south and north slopes. The principal (south) facade is organized into a 2½-storey main block flanked by a two-storey west wing. In the centre of the symmetrically-organized main block, a projecting entrance bay rises 2½ stories beneath a shaped pediment with stone quoins, coping, and brackets with Classical detailing. A single-leaf oak door with bronze hardware is placed in an elaborate stone surround with quoins and exaggerated keystones. The door is flanked by separate half-length sidelights with stone sills. A recessed stone porch with Classical columns and pilasters supporting an entablature protects the entry and three sets of French windows in the first floor. The porch has stone steps, a clay tile floor, and a slatted wood ceiling. Period glass light fixtures flank the door and are mounted along the porch ceiling. Above the entrance, two rows of flat-headed window openings with continuous stone sills are trimmed with brick voussoirs, stone keystones and, in the attic level, quoins and lintels. In the remainder of the main block, flat-headed window openings have double-sash wood windows, brick voussoirs, and stone sills and keystones. The east wall facing Russell Hill Road rises 2½ stories beneath a truncated gable with stone coping. A recessed entrance porch has stone steps, clay tile floor, slatted wood ceiling, and elaborate brick and stone detailing. The porch protects a stone-trimmed entrance containing a single-leaf wood door. On this wall, single and two-storey bay windows display stone detailing. The second-storey window openings are set in stone surrounds, while those in the attic level have brick and stone detailing. The rear (north) elevation displays a 2½-storey projecting centre section, a tripartite stairwell window, and flat-headed window openings set according to the interior plan. The west wing has a gable roof with returned eaves and, on the south and west walls, bands of casement windows with Classical wood detailing and stone sills.

Significant interior elements are found in the main-floor entrance hall and drawing room and the second-floor hall and foyer. The entrance hall displays oak panelled walls, moulded plaster cornice, panelled plaster ceiling, and panelled oak doors. A fireplace with Arts and Crafts detailing features a brick hearth, tile face and floor, hammered metal hood, brackets, and oak mantle. The mantle is surmounted by wall lamps inspired by Art Nouveau styling, and the ceiling has a period glass light fixture. A dog-leg oak staircase with a Classically-detailed newel post, turned balusters, posts and handrail rises to the second-floor foyer and hallway. The foyer has oak wainscotting, cornice and doors as well as a ceiling glass light fixture. The foyer leads to a hall with oak wainscotting and doors and a vaulted plaster ceiling. The first-floor drawing room, located west of the entrance hall, displays panelled mahogany walls with a dentilled cornice and entablatures below a plaster cornice and ceiling. On the west wall, a fireplace is distinguished by its elaborate mahogany surround with Classical detailing, tiled floor and face, metal hearth, mahogany mantle and wall lamps.

Northwest of the house, the brick-clad coach house rises 1½ stories under a gable roof with decorative downspouts and, on the south slope, a truncated gable. The windows and door on the south wall are trimmed with brick voussoirs and stone keystones and sills.

The properties at 262 and 264 St. Clair Avenue West are located on the northwest corner of St. Clair Avenue and Russell Hill Road on lands subdivided from the Baldwin Estate. The house and adjoining coach house are set back from and elevated above St. Clair Avenue in a landscaped setting with mature trees. The property is indicative of the residential properties that lined St. Clair Avenue West in the Forest Hill neighbourhood. The property has long associations with the Toronto medical community as the residence of two doctors and, during the last half century, as medical offices. The architectural design is highlighted by intact interior period elements.