130 Rusholme Rd., Unit 601, Toronto
Asking Price: $1,349,000
Taxes: $6,145.81 (2025)
Monthly maintenance fee: $1,306.03
Agent: David Nichols, Sutton Group Old Mill Realty
The backstory
The first time Guybrush Taylor and Laura Kim visited the IT Lofts in Toronto’s Dufferin Grove neighbourhood, construction was wrapping up in the boutique building.
Hydro wasn’t yet turned on, so the couple visited Unit 601 in darkness.
“We came in at seven o’clock at night in the middle of winter,” Mr. Taylor says. “All you saw was the moonlight off the snow. It was stunning.”
The snow blanketed the wraparound terrace and the windows running the length of the unit revealed the sky on that frosty night in 2016.
The couple had recently moved to Toronto from Chicago, where they met at the advertising agency where Mr. Taylor worked in marketing and data science and Ms. Kim worked in marketing and public relations.
They looked at many units with no view and little privacy, Ms. Kim recalls, so they were both taken with the terrace overlooking a neighbourhood of Victorian-era houses. To the east, they could see the CN Tower and the city skyline.
The CN Tower can be viewed from the condo’s wraparound terrace.Photography provided by Daniel Kupnicki/PropertySpaces Photography
“It’s a 270-degree balcony,” says Mr. Taylor. “You can see straight west to Mississauga.”
The planter wall along the edge of the terrace provided space to have a proper garden, Ms. Kim adds. “It seemed rare to have that in a condo in Toronto.”
Mr. Taylor says it was strange to see the unit before the power was hooked up, but the interior was finished, and their agent was able to gain access for the tour.
“We had a quick five minutes, but we only needed one.”
The house today
The unit has an open concept living area with the kitchen, dining and lounging all facing the floor-to-ceiling windows.
The two bedrooms with ensuite bathrooms are positioned on opposite sides of the 1,262-square foot unit giving each privacy.
The primary bedroom has additional closet space and a walkout to the terrace.
The couple currently uses one bedroom as an office where they can both work on the days they are at home.
Sliding doors open to the terrace, where the partners would each take a few minutes for rejuvenation while they were working from home during the pandemic, Ms. Kim says.
The owners use the second bedroom as an office.
“You can have a mental break, have a coffee or just look at the clouds,” adds Mr. Taylor.
At other times, they invite friends to watch the fireworks at Nathan Phillips Square or to see planes passing over the city during the Canadian International Air Show.
Mr. Taylor, a former art director, followed the tenets of traditional minimalism throughout the interior. The white walls, concrete ceiling and brushed oak floors provide a neutral backdrop. The furniture and decor were chosen so as not to compete with the view.
The unit’s colour palette is muted, to avoid clashing with the colours of the sky, one of the owners says.
“It’s all geometric,” he says. “That lets all of the lovely cloud shapes come out and the organic line of the garden.”
Morning and evening, the focus stays on the red, purple and orange hues of sunrise and sunset. “There’s an absence of any colour that would clash with the sky,” says Mr. Taylor. During winter, the couple enjoys seeing snow drift across the terrace.
“For us it’s really about clearing away clutter so we can see the things we love,” says Ms. Kim.
When they step outside the building, the West End YMCA is one block east. They are also never far from premium sushi, wood-fired pizza, madeleines and Vietnamese coffee.
The way neighbours get to know each other reminds Mr. Taylor of a television series set in a small town. “There are regulars in all these places.”
The living room is bright and has views of the terrace.
The best feature
Ms. Kim and Mr. Taylor brought in pallets of soil and filled the terrace planter wall with lush lilacs, roses and hydrangea.
Now the terrace is lined with blooms from spring through fall. They’ve divided the space into areas for lounging on a day bed, socializing on the outdoor sectional and dining al fresco.
A couple of years ago, the couple brought in a landscaping firm to update the plantings. The gardeners were surprised at the urban garden Ms. Kim was able to nurture six floors above ground.
“They wouldn’t have thought that roses would flourish here, but they did.”