Old artifacts keep the past alive at Vermont Avenue home By Mike Mastromatteo The house at 74 Vermont Ave. in the west Annex looks somewhat newer than its immediate neighbours. Despite its fresh and tidy frontage however, the house is one of the oldest structures on the block. It was built in the late 1880s […]
IF THESE WALLS COULD TALK: 74 Vermont Ave. is one of the oldest on the block (Apr. 2026)
April 8th, 2026 · Comments Off on IF THESE WALLS COULD TALK: 74 Vermont Ave. is one of the oldest on the block (Apr. 2026)
IF THESE WALLS COULD TALK: Bathurst Street landmark fading into a prolonged sunset (Mar. 2026)
April 7th, 2026 · Comments Off on IF THESE WALLS COULD TALK: Bathurst Street landmark fading into a prolonged sunset (Mar. 2026)
Bird bath designer, musician, gardener, and decorator all lived here By Mike Mastromatteo It’s a sad visage greeting the traveller passing by the abandoned, crumbling house on the east side of Bathurst Street, just north of Dupont Street. The house at 1177 Bathurst St. is a grand foursquare redbrick home with a rounded arch entryway […]
ARTS: Desi Di Nardo, an Annex poet laureate (Mar. 2026)
April 7th, 2026 · Comments Off on ARTS: Desi Di Nardo, an Annex poet laureate (Mar. 2026)
You can take the poet out of the Annex, but you can’t take the Annex out of the poet By Mike Mastromatteo More than a few observers have noted the “literary” element of life in the Annex. Many writers, professors, and poets still live within its boundaries, suggesting in some ways that the Annex is more […]
IF THESE WALLS COULD TALK: Once upon a time at 27 Follis Ave. (Feb. 2026)
March 11th, 2026 · Comments Off on IF THESE WALLS COULD TALK: Once upon a time at 27 Follis Ave. (Feb. 2026)
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 […]
IF THESE WALLS COULD TALK: So many rich and diverse lives lived in these twin houses (Jan. 2026)
March 9th, 2026 · Comments Off on IF THESE WALLS COULD TALK: So many rich and diverse lives lived in these twin houses (Jan. 2026)
631 and 633 Davenport Rd. hosted a hardware store, cancer care club By Mike Mastromatteo Adjoining homes on the southeast corner of Davenport and Howland—an area once known as Bracondale—have a curious history coloured by the many lives and experiences that graced the homes over the last 140 years. (But the “walls” column parameters are […]
HISTORY: If these walls could talk (Sept. 2025)
December 15th, 2025 · Comments Off on HISTORY: If these walls could talk (Sept. 2025)
St. George Street home has many stories to tell By Michael Mastromatteo This is the first in a series of columns speculating on the lived history of various houses in the Annex. Imagine that the “walls” of these homes secretly absorb some of the actions and experience of those living within. If we accept […]