Former inhabitants include a grocer, a milliner, and a deaconess

By Mike Mastromatteo

On Follis Avenue, running west from Bathurst Street to Christie Street, there is a row of mostly semi-detached, two-storey dwellings. 

The house at 27 Follis is the focus of this month’s “walls” story.

Among the many families and boarders who have called 27 Follis home, the Little family— mom Mary J. and daughters Maud and Jennie—might be the most intrinsic to the neighbourhood, yet the most commonplace as well. 

The Little sisters were connected to 27 Follis for at least 31 years, from 1914 until 1945. One can almost see them in those days, gardening, keeping house, greeting neighbours, or taking the streetcar on Sunday mornings to the nearest United Church. Perhaps it was College Street United at the corner of Bathurst and College. Established in 1874 as a Presbyterian place of worship, it joined the United Church in 1925 and is one of the most prominent churches in the Annex.

We will get back to the Little family shortly, but for now, a few words about their predecessors. 

It appears Follis Avenue developed a little later than the homes south of Bloor Street. It wasn’t until about 1910 that all the lots had been developed and had addresses assigned to them.

In 1911, 27 Follis was occupied by grocer, Thomas Horan, and then two years later by Mrs. Jennie A. Bach (most likely a widow).

Then came the Little family who would make their quiet mark on the neighbourhood for more than three decades.

Mary J. Little was a widow who raised two daughters. Maud was a milliner or “cutter” with several women’s hat fabricating companies while Jennie’s occupation remains a mystery.

Mary Little passed away in 1922, leaving daughters Maud and Jennie to fend for themselves, and fending for themselves turned out to have its hazards. As the Toronto Daily Star reported on July 13, 1932, the Little sisters fell victim to a pair of swindlers: “Hugh Hazelwood, 52, of Windermere Ave., said by police to be a former clergyman, and Robert F. Peacock, 32, living in a Jarvis St. hotel, were each remanded until July 20 for trial upon charges of fraud and false pretenses. Bail was set at $10,000. Hazelwood is charged with obtaining $1621 from two sisters, the Misses Jennie and Maud Little of 27 Follis Ave. by fraud. Peacock faces a charge of obtaining $2475 from the same two sisters by false pretenses. In both cases, police allege, the men had told the women convincing yarns of how small fortunes would be made with the sisters’ money.”

According to the Inflation Tool website, $1621 in 1932 would be equivalent to $35,916 today, while $2476 would be more than $54,000. Quite a loss indeed for the Depression-era Little sisters.

There is no record of the Littles receiving any restitution for the losses, but they managed to carry on at 27 Follis until 1945. 

They likely supplemented their income by renting out a room to one of their United Church contacts. The municipal directories show an Agnes Coutie residing at 27 Follis Ave. from 1937 to 1938. 

Sadly, Agnes Coutie, a retired deaconess and hospital visitor with the United Church, passed away on Jan. 30, 1939.

Nonetheless, Maud Little remained busy with church and social work. On Nov. 21, 1940, The Toronto Daily Star, mentions “Sister Maud Little” in a report about an Order of the Eastern Star (OES) bazaar and dinner. In the write-up, Maud is described as a “worthy matron.” The OES was akin to a sister organization to the Freemasons.

The Little regime at 27 Follis came to an end in 1946 when painter Peter Dubnyk purchased the home. Dubnyk lasted only a year before another long-time owner, Stanley Borowski moved in.

A porter at a department store, and later a salesclerk at Lipman’s Clothier, Borowski was a salt-of-the-earth type.  

Although he passed away around 1971, wife Nellie remained in the 27 Follis home until 1980 and worked as a cleaner with Ontario Hydro. 

More recent owner/occupants of the property include Elizabeth Butterworth, a long-term Ontario civil servant and a Mr. Sutcliffe, whose life and work remain undetermined.

With all those lives and experiences over the years, 27 Follis continued to accumulate charm and appeal. 

A Dec. 17, 2004 real estate advertisement in the Globe and Mail, for example, described the Annex area home as “a much sought after neighbourhood for young families priced out of the prime part of the Annex.”

Today, 27 Follis has been modernized, and an additional half-storey has been added to the west side of the structure. But despite the new look, the house might still possess the spirit of the many who lived, toiled, and persevered since grocer Thomas Horan first called the place home in 1911.

READ MORE:

• IF THESE WALLS COULD TALK: So many rich and diverse lives lived in these twin houses (Jan. 2026)
• IF THESE WALLS COULD TALK: Before the Maddy was a pub it was a mansion (Dec. 2025)
• IF THESE WALLS COULD TALK: 351 Palmerston Blvd. (Oct./Nov. 2025)
• HISTORY: If these walls could talk (Sept. 2025)