TORONTO

 June 29,1998

 To:City of Toronto Community Council

 From:Managing Director, Toronto Historical Board

 Subject:Designation Under Part IV of the Ontario Heritage Act - 93 Balsam Avenue (William J. Gardiner House)

 Purpose:

 This report recommends that the property at 93 Balsam Avenue (William J. Gardiner House) be designated under Part IV of the Ontario Heritage Act.

 Funding Sources, Financial Implications and Impact Statement:

 Not applicable.

 Recommendations:

1. That Council state its intention to designate the property at 93 Balsam Avenue (William J. Gardiner House) under Part IV of the Ontario Heritage Act.

 2.That the appropriate officials be authorized to take whatever action is necessary to give effect hereto.

 Background:

 At its meeting of March 4, 1998, the Toronto Community Council adopted a report from the Board of Heritage Toronto recommending that the property at 93 Balsam Avenue (William J. Gardiner House) be included on the City of Toronto Inventory of Heritage Properties. The Toronto Community Council requested Heritage Toronto to examine the possibility of designating the property under Part IV of the Ontario Heritage Act.

 At its meeting of June 17, 1998, the Board of Heritage Toronto adopted the attached report recommending the designation of the property at 93 Balsam Avenue. The new owner of the property supports the designation.

 Comments:

Short Statement of Reasons for Designation

 William J. Gardiner House

93 Balsam Avenue, Toronto

 The property at 93 Balsam Avenue is recommended for designation for architectural and historical reasons. The house at 93 Balsam Avenue was completed in 1899 for Toronto jeweller William J. Gardiner. It was the residence of Toronto artist Nancy Caudie Wright from 1940 until her death in 1997.

 The William J. Gardiner House is a single-storey bungalow constructed of wood frame and clad in shiplap siding. The rectangular plan is covered by a hip roof with a brick chimney. The roof extends over an open raised wraparound verandah with wood detailing. On the symmetrically organized principal (west) facade, the central entrance has a panelled wood door. The principal (west) facade and side walls display extended flat-headed window openings with multi-paned windows and shutters. There are small rectangular windows on the north wall and a single bay window on the south wall. The interiors and three rear (east) additions to the original house are not included as significant elements in the Reasons for Designation.

 The William J. Gardiner House is located on the east side of Balsam Avenue north of Queen Street East. It is indicative of the modest wood frame houses constructed when East Toronto developed as a seasonal community east of Toronto and an important surviving example of the early growth of the Balmy Beach neighbourhood.

 Conclusion:

 Heritage Toronto recommends that City Council designate the property at 93 Balsam Avenue (William J. Gardiner House) under Part IV of the Ontario Heritage Act.

 Contact Name:

Ms. Kathryn Anderson

Preservation Officer, Historical Preservation Division, Toronto Historical Board

Tel: 392-6827, ext. 239

Fax: 392-6834

George E. Waters,

Acting Managing Director

(g:\report\1998\cc98\cc98016.thb)

 copy:Councillor Sandra Bussin, Toronto City Hall, 100 Queen Street West, Suite 20, Toronto, M5H 2N2

 Councillor Tom Jakobek, Toronto City Hall, 100 Queen Street West, Suite 2, Toronto, M5H 2N2

HERITAGE TORONTO

(TORONTO HISTORICAL BOARD)

June 8, 1998

 To:Chair and Members, Toronto Historical Board

 Subject:93 BALSAM AVENUE (WILLIAM J. GARDINER HOUSE) -- DESIGNATION UNDER PART IV OF THE ONTARIO HERITAGE ACT

 From:Managing Director, Toronto Historical Board (thb98022.hpd)

 RECOMMENDATION

 1. That City Council state its intention to designate the property at 93 Balsam Avenue (William J. Gardiner House) pursuant to Part IV of the Ontario Heritage Act to be of architectural and historical interest.

 2.That the appropriate officials be authorized to take whatever action is necessary to give effect hereto.

 COMMENTS

 1.Background:

 The property at 93 Balsam Avenue (William J. Gardiner House) was included on the City of Toronto Inventory of Heritage Properties by Toronto Council on March 4, 1998. In its report to City Council, Toronto Community Council "requested Heritage Toronto to examine the possibility of designating the property at 93 Balsam Avenue under Part IV of the Ontario Heritage Act."

 The property at 93 Balsam is changing ownership at the end of June, 1998. The new owner supports the designation.

 A Short Statement of Reasons for Designation, intended for publication, follows. A Heritage Property Report (Long Statement of Reasons for Designation), including visuals, is attached. Both documents constitute the Reasons for Designation.

 2.Short Statement of Reasons for Designation:

 The property at 93 Balsam Avenue is recommended for designation for architectural and historical reasons. The house at 93 Balsam Avenue was completed in 1899 for Toronto jeweller William J. Gardiner. It was the residence of Toronto artist Nancy Caudie Wright from 1940 until her death in 1997.

 The William J. Gardiner House is a single-storey bungalow constructed of wood frame and clad in shiplap siding. The rectangular plan is covered by a hip roof with a brick chimney. The roof extends over an open raised wraparound verandah with wood detailing. On the symmetrically organized principal (west) facade, the central entrance has a panelled wood door. The principal (west) facade and side walls display extended flat-headed window openings with multi-paned windows and shutters. There are small rectangular windows on the north wall and a single bay window on the south wall. The interiors and three rear (east) additions to the original house are not included as significant elements in the Reasons for Designation.

 The William J. Gardiner House is located on the east side of Balsam Avenue north of Queen Street East. It is indicative of the modest wood frame houses constructed when East Toronto developed as a seasonal community east of Toronto and an important surviving example of the early growth of the Balmy Beach neighbourhood.

      George E. Waters

Acting Managing Director

RS/KA

encl.Heritage Property Report

HERITAGE TORONTO

Heritage Property Report

William J. Gardiner House

93 Balsam Avenue

June 1998

 Heritage Property Report

William J. Gardiner House

93 Balsam Avenue

TABLE OF CONTENTS

 Basic Building Data1

 Historical Background2

 Architectural Description3

 Context3

 Summary3

 Sources Consulted3

   Attachments:

 IShort Statement of Reasons for Designation

 IILocation Map

 IIIPhotographs

    1

 HERITAGE TORONTO

 Heritage Property Report

  Basic Building Data:

 Address:93 Balsam Avenue (east side of Balsam Avenue, north of Queen Street East)

 Ward:26

 Current Name:not applicable

 Historical Name:William J. Gardiner House

 Construction Date:1899

 Architect:none found

 Contractor/Builder:none found

 Additions/Alterations:dates unknown: three rear (east) additions

 Original Owner:William J. Gardiner

 Original Use:Residential

 Current Use*:Residential

 Heritage Category:Neighbourhood Heritage Property (Category C)

 Recording Date:June 1998

 Recorder:HPD:KA

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

HISTORICAL BACKGROUND:

1. The Beach:

 Development of the East Toronto neighbourhood known as the Beach began in 1853. The area remained the setting of country estates until the final quarter of the 19^th century.

 With the extension of street car and steamer service from the City of Toronto in the 1870s, the eastern beaches attracted both occasional visitors to amusement parks and other recreational pursuits, and seasonal residents who occupied tents and cottages along the lakeshore. Balmy Beach Park was established in 1876. The Kew Farm, located east of Woodbine Avenue, was renamed Kew Gardens in 1878 when it was converted to a "picnic park" with campsites and cabins. During the 1890s, new parks joined the existing ones near Woodbine, Kew and Balmy Beaches. This development was accompanied by a move to year-round occupancy and improved roads and transit.

 Queen Street East was extended east from Woodbine Avenue in 1887. The following year, the extension of the street east from Woodbine to Lee Avenue coincided with the incorporation of the Village of East Toronto (the community achieved town status in 1903 prior to being annexed by the City of Toronto in 1908). By 1896, the streetcar line reached Balsam Avenue.

 2.93 Balsam Avenue:

 Following the extension of the streetcar line to Balsam Avenue, part of the latter street was registered in a plan of subdivision in 1895. The property at 93 Balsam Avenue remained undeveloped when it was transferred from Robert Beaty, a King Street East banker, to A. J. R. Snow, a barrister on Sherbourne Street. The house at 93 Balsam Avenue was completed in 1899 when William J. Gardiner, a jeweler, purchased the property. Gardiner resided on-site with his wife and five children and acquired three adjoining vacant lots. In 1906, Gardiner sold the property at 93 Balsam. The house remained vacant until 1910, when William Pepper began a 30-year tenancy.

 In 1940, Edward M. Caudie, a toolmaker, bought the property. Caudie's daughter, Nancy, retained the property until her death in 1997. Nancy Caudie Wright's artistic career began at age 16 when she apprenticed as a commercial artist with the Harry Lane Studio, a Toronto advertising firm. She did advertising layouts and illustrations for the Timothy Eaton Company for eight years before joining Bomark Engravings as an illustrator. Nancy Caudie Wright worked briefly as a freelance artist before forming a studio with artists Bill Winter and Jack Bush. During this period, she specialized in book covers and editorial illustrations for major publications. From 1948 to 1953, Nancy Caudie Wright served as art director of the Canadian Home Journal. As a designer at the firm of Samson, Mathews in the 1950s, one of her colleagues was Group of Seven artist A. J. Casson.

 In 1940, Nancy Caudie Wright became the first female member of the Art Directors Club of Toronto. With the support of A. J. Casson, member of the Board of the Ontario College of Art, she began a 10-year career as a teacher at that institution in 1958. While teaching and working as a commercial artist, Nancy Caudie Wright pursued her interest in watercolour painting. She exhibited with the Ontario Society of Artists and the Watercolour Society of Canada before holding a one-woman show at Toronto's Upstairs Gallery in 1958. Following her retirement in 1969, Nancy Caudie Wright concentrated on painting trips with fellow artist Doris McCarthy, a former resident of Balsam Avenue. According to artist Allan O'Marra, "Wright's watercolours¼show an unerring sense of design, masterful draftsmanship, flawless colour harmonies, and a craftsman's understanding of the medium. But most of all, they show her empathy for the Canadian landscape and her ability to respond directly and spontaneously to it."

 ARCHITECTURAL DESCRIPTION:

 The William J. Gardiner House is a modest single-storey bungalow typical of the first generation of houses constructed in the East Toronto neighbourhood during its transition from a seasonal to a permanent community. Constructed of wood frame, the cottage is clap with shiplap siding. Its rectangular plan is covered by a hip roof with a brick chimney on the north slope. The roof extends over an open, raised verandah that wraps around the front (west) and side (north and south) walls. The verandah has a moulded wood base and wood columns and railings. The principal (west) façade is symmetrically organized into three bays. The entrance with a paneled wood door is centered between two extended window openings with shutters. The openings, which contain multi-paned diamond-patterned windows, are repeated on the sidewalls. The south façade has a projecting bay window, while the north wall displays diminutive rectangular window openings. The interiors and the three rear (east) additions are not included as significant elements in the Reasons for Designation.

 CONTEXT:

 The William J. Gardiner House is located on the east side of Balsam Avenue in the first block north of Queen Street East. The house is set back from the street on an elevated lot. It is set apart by its modest form and wood cladding in a street with larger houses with brick or mixed cladding. At 132 Balsam Avenue, to the north, "Pinecrest" (1904) is a residential building included on the City of Toronto Inventory of Heritage Properties.

 SUMMARY:

 The property at 93 Balsam Avenue is identified for architectural and historical reasons. Built for William J. Gardiner, the house was associated for the past half-century as the childhood home and long-term residence of Nancy Caudie Wright, a noted Toronto artist. The house, with its diminutive form, wood cladding, and modest detailing is indicative of the cottages constructed in the area when East Toronto developed as a summer resort community outside the City of Toronto. Predating the annexation of the area by the City of Toronto in 1908, the William J. Gardiner House is an important surviving example of the early development of the Balmy Beach neighbourhood.

 Sources Consulted:

Abstract Index of Deeds, Plan 1183, Lot 21.

Assessment Rolls, 1896 ff.

 Campbell, Mary, and Barbara Myrvold. The Beach in Pictures 1793-1932. Toronto Public Library, 1988.

 ------------------------------------------------. Historical Walking Tour of Kew Beach. Toronto Public Library Board, 1995.

 City of Toronto Directories.

 Morrison, Barry. "The Joy of painting as intense for well-known artist Doris McCarthy". Article in Local History Files, Beaches Library.

 O'Marra, Allan. "A Remarkable artist" (Nancy Wright). Article in Local History Files, Beaches Library.

     Kathryn Anderson

June 1998

   ATTACHMENT I

 Short Statement of Reasons for Designation

  William J. Gardiner House

93 Balsam Avenue

 The property at 93 Balsam Avenue is recommended for designation for architectural and historical reasons. The house at 93 Balsam Avenue was completed in 1899 for Toronto jeweller William J. Gardiner. It was the residence of Toronto artist Nancy Caudie Wright from 1940 until her death in 1997.

 The William J. Gardiner House is a single-storey bungalow constructed of wood frame and clad in shiplap siding. The rectangular plan is covered by a hip roof with a brick chimney. The roof extends over an open raised wraparound verandah with wood detailing. On the symmetrically organized principal (west) facade, a central entrance has a panelled wood door. The west facade and sidewalls (north and south) display extended flat-headed window openings with multi-paned windows and shutters. There are rectangular windows on the north wall and a single bay window on the south wall. The interiors and three rear (east) additions to the original house are not included as significant elements in the Reasons for Designation.

 The William J. Gardiner House is located on the east side of Balsam Avenue north of Queen Street East. It is indicative of the modest wood frame houses constructed when East Toronto developed as a seasonal community east of Toronto and an important surviving example of the early growth of the Balmy Beach neighbourhood.