Many long-time denizens of Ledbury Park are accustomed to fending off unsolicited offers to buy their houses. This is an area where builders have razed nearly entire streets of post-war bungalows and replaced them with small mansions.
The actual Ledbury Park is a three-acre gathering spot that offers swimming pools and waterfalls in the summer heat, outdoor skating in winter and award-winning architecture by the firm of Shim-Sutcliffe.
The surrounding community stretches from Lawrence Avenue north to Wilson Avenue and from Avenue Road west to Bathurst. Before Greater Toronto's amalgamation, the area was part of the city of North York.
In the 1990s, the area began to attract families who were drawn to the amenities and schools of nearby Forest Hill, Lawrence Park and Teddington Park but couldn't afford the lofty real estate prices. Buying a teardown and starting anew, they reasoned, was a less expensive option.
One spin-off of all the rebuilding is the rejuvenation on Avenue Road, where there has been an influx of interior decorating shops.
What is has going for it:
Ledbury Park: In 1999, Brigitte Shim and Howard Sutcliffe received a Governor-General's Medal for Architecture for their transformation of the landscape and structures at this city park. On the ice canal, skaters glide under an arching bridge of weathering steel designed by the duo. In spring, the ice melts into a reflecting pond. All years, dogs frolic within a fenced enclosure and pedestrians stroll the pathways.
Shops: As moneyed professionals moved in, the scions of Sicilian immigrant Salvatore Pusateri decided to turn their pop's humble fruit and vegetable store into an uptown grocer. Pusateri's Fine Foods emerged as a flamboyant purveyor of Tuscan olives and toothsome ciabatta and traffic soon jammed Avenue Road at the entrance to its parking lot. Foodies also make pilgrimages to Avenue Seafood. One landmark is the Lobster Trap, with blue-and-white check tablecloths and retro dishes such as Lobster Thermidor on the menu. With so many new bathrooms and great rooms to decorate, residents have a choice of retailers offering everything from Farrow & Ball paint to fine china.
Schools: Havergal College has been educating girls at its elite day and boarding school for decades. Toronto French School is a short drive along Lawrence to the east and Upper Canada College for boys lies to the south. Ledbury Park Elementary and Middle School sits next to the park.
Transportation: A Toronto Transit Commission express bus barrels down Avenue Road to downtown shopping and the financial towers. For drivers, Highway 401 is moments away.
The case against:
Monoculture: The builders who are putting up these new houses have a favourite colour and it is grey. So rapid has been the turnover that there's very little middle ground between the original houses and the new construction. Inevitably a clash has arisen between the newcomers who want built-in garages and main-floor family rooms and the traditionalists who complain that the giants looming on either side of their bungalows are blocking out the sun.
Market values
Original properties are rare. A two-bedroom house on Deloraine has an asking price of $750,000 and the listing agent says upfront that the property is being sold for land value only. Prospective buyers looking for a newer house, however, often have plenty of listings to choose from. On streets such as Woburn Avenue, Fairlawn Avenue and Brookdale Avenue, an asking price just north of $1.2-million for 3,000 square feet is a typical equation. Add copper downspouts and square footage and prices climb past $2-million.