The story began in 2011 when two neighbouring houses in the first block of King Edward west of Dunbar were put up for sale. Both were built in 1925, and each had had the same owner for the last 40 years. The lots are 50 feet wide, and one of the ads stated: "sub-divide with next-door property to make three 33 ft lots". This scheme has worked in the past. The price for each lot was initially set at nearly $2.4 million dollars, but eventually each was sold in May 2013 for $1.85 million.
Here are the two houses as they appeared when they were put up for sale in 2011, 3734 West King Edward in August and 3750 West King Edward in October.
Several years passed; for-sale signs came and went. I kept watching. When I saw this on August 16, 2013, I assumed a double demolition.
In early September, the house at 3734 was clearly in the process of demolition, but where was the excavator?
At 3750, the situation was even more puzzling. Why were they bringing in the concrete pieces and digging the big hole?
By October, it was clear that there was going to be a renovation, an extreme renovation, to the house on the right.
And less than a week later, the house on the left began to take on its new shape. A double renovation!!
Now for the progress of the renovations over the next year and more.
November 3, 2013
November 11, 2013
November 20, 2013
Taken from the side of 3734, this photo shows the difference in construction between the 1920's and now. The rebuilt part for the second storey uses plywood, in contrast to the retained main floor which reuses the original solid lumber.
December 15, 2013
December 15, 2013--Detail of 3750
January 1, 2014
February 2, 2014
March 30, 2014
July 14, 2014
August 31, 2014
August 31, 2014--3750
August 31, 2014--3734
The remaining photos are from January 1, 2015
I hope that you agree with me that these two houses are an asset in their neighbourhood. Although, neither one replicates any existing house in the Dunbar area built in the 1920's, 1930's, or 1940's, their designs fit very well into the street scape of their block. They are not overly large or overly "craftsman", which Dunbar rarely had anyway. I do not know if their interiors retain any heritage features, but they are likely quite up-to-date and comfortable. The renovations were expensive, maybe more so than building new structures. Some materials had to go to the landfill, but not everything. For all these reasons, I applaud these two renovations.
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