Restored home turned workspace in a downtown heritage enclave

9 Edgedale Rd., Toronto

Asking Price: $1,849,000

Taxes: $9,501.05 (2025)

Lot Size: 19.75 by 90 feet

Agents: Simson Chu, Chestnut Park Real Estate

The backstory

Many of Toronto’s Victorian-era neighbourhoods and buildings have been renovated, razed or rebuilt in the 21st century, but perhaps no transformation has been as striking as the redevelopment surrounding historic Edgedale Road.

Advertising mavens Mark Hickmott and Ronn Battaglia discovered the pocket south of Bloor Street and east of Sherbourne Avenue in 2004, soon after they launched their own creative agency.

The business partners were looking to move from Mr. Hickmott’s kitchen table to more substantial office space when they began to ponder the idea of buying a building.

The first time they saw the circa 1902 semi-detached house for sale at 9 Edgedale Rd., it was a rundown rooming house with young tenants crammed into every nook and cranny.

“Think of it as a fixer-upper – but it has potential,” a real estate agent advised Mr. Battaglia.

The home was one of three semi-detached houses standing on the tree-lined road just east of the Church of St. Peter and St.-Simon-the-Apostle.

Parts of that Jacobean Arts & Crafts red-brick building were designed by renowned architect Eden Smith.

No. 9 Edgedale was designed in the Period Revival style by prominent architect Charles Gibson, who had a prolific career in Rosedale, the Annex and Parkdale.

“It used to be a posh neighbourhood,” Mr. Hickmott says of the area that was developed on the edge of the Rosedale Valley Ravine in the 1800s. During the First World War, the extension of Bloor Street divided the pocket from the ravine and the exclusive enclave of Rosedale, but the Glen Road Pedestrian Bridge connected the two sides.

After the Second World War the growth of the middle-class suburbs around the city contributed to the area’s decline.

Beginning in the 1950s, much of the housing stock south of Howard Street was demolished and replaced with the St. James Town apartment towers.

The houses on Edgedale Road are part of a collection of surviving heritage buildings designated under the Ontario Heritage Act as a reminder of the historical setting of the area.

For Mr. Hickmott and Mr. Battaglia, the home’s location in the core, with a subway station one block away, was a big draw. They decided to buy and renovate.

The house today

The co-founders opted to create a live-work space.

Mr. Battaglia and his wife would take over the top two floors as a residence, while the main floor would serve as an office for the start-up, and the basement apartment remained a rental unit.

The renovation began with a complete overhaul of the electrical and other systems, and demolition of the rabbit’s warren of partitions between rooms.

On the second floor, Mr. Battaglia designed a kitchen with a large centre island and a door opening to a second-floor deck.

The dining room stood in the centre and a family room at the front, with a bay window overlooking the street.

The third floor provided space for a large primary bedroom, a second bedroom and a bathroom with a walk-in shower, soaker tub and double vanity.

On the main floor, the partners set up their own office and created flexible spaces for the team’s collaborations on brand and advertising campaigns. A former back staircase was enclosed to accommodate information technology on the main floor and a laundry area upstairs.

Throughout the house, they preserved original details, including stained and leaded glass windows, and an antique fireplace cover.

Over time, Borealis Creative expanded its client list and its premises.

“Ten years later, my wife and I decided either we had to leave or the office had to leave,” says Mr. Battaglia.

The couple moved to a new home, but the partners kept the kitchen and bathrooms for staff. Bedrooms and other living spaces were easily converted to conference rooms and desk areas.

The basement apartment became space for the finance department.

Over the years, the partners have watched the changing identity of the neighbourhood.

Mr. Battaglia lost count of the number of times his car was broken into in the early days.

Over the years, some buildings have been torn down and others restored. One century-old mansion was hoisted up and moved down the street.

Today, two high-rise condo buildings connected by a podium stand to the east of Edgedale. The project has brought new residents, coffee shops and recreation areas and retail stores to the area.

“It was derelict,” Mr. Hickmott says of the surroundings when the partners moved in. “The new condos have really changed the neighbourhood.”

A nearby homeless shelter has closed. On a recent weekday, the passers-by were parents dropping their pre-schoolers off at the early learning centre at St. Simon’s.

While Mr. Hickmott and Mr. Battaglia were trailblazers, new homeowners followed to revive the former rooming houses on the street.

Edgedale Road is a private street that the neighbours oversee together, says Mr. Battaglia. The city does provide garbage pick-up, but does not provide snow removal, for example.

The best feature

Mr. Hickmott and Mr. Battaglia say the quiet lane feels like an oasis in the bustling neighbourhood.

When the COVID-19 pandemic shut down offices, staff became accustomed to working from home. To entice them back, the partners reconfigured the home’s main floor again to create a more comfortable lounging area.

They say the layout of the house is ideal for a start-up with living space above, but it could easily be returned to a single-family home or divided into rental units.