As waterfront property goes, this one is unbeatable.
It boasts some 50 feet of sandy shoreline and unimpeded views of passing boats — except this place is a far cry from cottage country. The water is Lake Ontario and the house is a 15-minute drive from Toronto’s bustling downtown.
This $8 million quasi cottage-in-the-city — which just went on the market in Toronto’s Beach neighbourhood for double all previous sales records — is creating quite the buzz in one of the most sought-after areas of the city, where even the average house sparks bully offers and bidding wars.
“Realtors like to exaggerate that houses here are just steps from the beach, but this one literally is — you just have to open the gate and you’re on the sand,” says a local, walking his two golden retrievers past the home’s stunning reflective-glass fence.
The Lake Front Lane house is believed to one of just over a dozen homes across the whole city that can claim to be within close and easy access of what’s now considered safe and swimmable Lake Ontario.
The 7,000-square-foot home, which once contained seven apartments, has been completely gutted and rebuilt to exacting standards over the last two years. The current owner bought it for $2.8 million in 2007 and then reportedly sank in $4 million in renos.
The walkways of the four-plus-one bedroom home are heated so you never have to lift a shovel. You also don’t need boots: A tunnel leads from the house to the coach house/garage which sits on a laneway just off Silver Birch Avenue.
Next to the pool, which faces the lake, is a putting green and hot tub protected from prying eyes by a glass fence that lets occupants soak and watch the water, but reflects the lake on the other side, which keeps prying eyes out.
That’s a good thing because that stretch of sand is one of the rare bits of the Beach where locals are allowed to let their dogs run off-leash.
“We have fantastic views of the lake here, but if I was going to spend $8 million, I’d want a lot more property,” says a neighbour, who claims the only time there’s really any noise is during prom night at the local high schools.
You could buy a boat with the taxes — almost $23,000 a year.
But the 50-by-125 foot lot comes with enough parking for four cars. It also features a library, a winetasting room, and window after window with unimpeded views of Lake Ontario.
“I was really skeptical when I went in. We’ve never had anything in the Beach at this price point,” says veteran area realtor Dianne Chaput who took a tour of the house, listed by Royal LePage realtor Thomas Neal.
“But it’s worth every penny. We’ve never seen anything of this calibre and quality in the Beach. I think it’s amazing.”
Neal wouldn’t discuss details of the home, other than to stress it’s being sold as a single-family home, not as a potential development site.
The notion of turning any prime Beach waterfront sites into condos is now considered dead since locals fought a five-storey development, proposed for nearby Neville Park Boulevard, all the way to the Ontario Municipal Board and won.
Toronto Star
