You think your apartment is small? Meet the smallest detached house in Toronto. At 220 square feet, Brians home near Coxwell and Danforth makes even the most Lilliputian apartment look large. A few other houses come close. One near St. Clair and Dufferin was famously featured on the Ellen DeGeneres Show, but even it comes in at just over 300 square feet.
It was a mishmash of styles in 2013 when he bought it, but Brian has since spent about $20,000 in upgrades: a new roof and siding an entirely refinished interior including a new bathroom with space-saving features like electric sockets hidden in a recessed cabinet a stacked washer and dryer a shiny new Ikea kitchen with more hidden sockets (for toaster, etc), a four-burner stove and an apartment-sized fridge and smart features like heated floors.
Its not without its challenges, Brian says, first and foremost of which is a lack of storage space.
You cant stock up on toilet paper and paper towels when theyre on sale, he laments.
You cant have as many guests as in a larger home, but he had a whopping 30 people at his housewarming. They also made use of the front yard.
Theres only one window, but Brian views that as a positive, allowing him to control the light. The house is wired with an elaborate series of dimmers, and there are lots of spot lighting options under the cabinets and toe kicks.
The couch pulls out into a double bed, and theres another double bed in a loft accessed by a ladder Brian built himself. That gargantuan television often gets local stations thanks to the rooftop antenna he installed, and it also serves as a family gaming station for Wii bowling when his teenagers come to visit.
Brian has always been drawn to smaller homes, but he does admit to having another place in Haliburton (a palatial 800 square feet) where he stores his toys, including motorbikes and a 1986 VW van. But he likes the lifestyle his pied-a-terre offers, along with the low taxes (The smaller the space, the lower the taxes), low hydro bills (those aforementioned heated floors really cut down on costs) and proximity to the Danforth and the Beach.
Living small is getting big: see HGTV shows like Tiny House, Big Living and Tiny House Hunters. The Toronto Real Estate Boards MLS Home Price Index makes it easy to see why: the September report pegs the benchmark detached house price at $999,900. The benchmark condo price? $380,400.
Brians realtor, Paul Vallis of Zolo, explains that when the home first went on the market in 2013, a number of people were interested, including some who imagined turning it into an artists studio and neighbours who were downsizing and looking for a smaller city place.
Brian ended up buying the house for $165,000, 28 per cent less than the asking price. It was a bargain then, too, when TREBs September 2013 MLS Home Price Index had a detached home benchmarked at $704,000 and a condo at $314,100.
His home may not remain the citys smallest forever, though. Brian hopes one day to build a second storey and to add solar panels on the new roof to further reduce his dependence on the grid.
Until then, think twice before you call your 350-square-foot apartment a shoebox.
website@nowtoronto.com | @fraserabe
