{"id":561349,"date":"2026-03-26T05:02:22","date_gmt":"2026-03-26T05:02:22","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/561349\/"},"modified":"2026-03-26T05:02:22","modified_gmt":"2026-03-26T05:02:22","slug":"toronto-victorian-with-charming-details-and-gucci-wallpaper-selling-for-under-2m","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/561349\/","title":{"rendered":"Toronto Victorian with charming details and Gucci wallpaper selling for under $2M"},"content":{"rendered":"

When a Toronto listing says “be prepared to fall in love,”\u00a0I usually roll my eyes a little.<\/p>\n

But in the case of 190 Brunswick Ave., I was smitten from the very first photo.<\/p>\n

Tucked into Harbord Village, this stately Victorian has all the character you could possibly want \u2014 and then some.<\/p>\n

\"190<\/p>\n

The main hall and staircase.\u00a0<\/p>\n

And unlike some older homes that have been stripped of their soul in the name of “modernization,”\u00a0this one has managed to hold onto all the good stuff.<\/p>\n

\"190<\/p>\n

A view into the living room.\u00a0<\/p>\n

We’re talking bay windows, soaring 10-foot ceilings, crown mouldings, original wood doors and floors, stained glass transoms, embossed panelling \u2014 the kind of details that are nearly impossible to recreate today.<\/p>\n

And the deeper you look, the more the history reveals itself.<\/p>\n

\"190<\/p>\n

The gas fireplace in the living room.\u00a0<\/p>\n

“The deco mantle over the fireplace dates to the 1920s,”\u00a0says realtor Natalie Sutton Balaban, pointing out just one of many preserved period features. Even the chandelier above the staircase has a story \u2014 “it’s an original gas fixture that’s been converted for electricity.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"190<\/p>\n

The living room.\u00a0<\/p>\n

The main floor is all about those grand principal rooms, with high ceilings and tons of natural light pouring in.<\/p>\n

\"190<\/p>\n

The dining room.\u00a0<\/p>\n

But it’s not stuck in the past.<\/p>\n

\"190<\/p>\n

The family room.\u00a0<\/p>\n

While the house leans heavily into its historic charm, it’s also been updated where it counts, and done so thoughtfully.\u00a0\"190“The seaweed and Bramble Morris & Company wallpaper was chosen as a modern nod, meant to be period-appropriate to the home,”\u00a0says Sutton Balaban.<\/p>\n

\"190<\/p>\n

The primary bedroom.\u00a0<\/p>\n

And then there are the more personal touches.<\/p>\n

\"190<\/p>\n

The spruce staircase.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Sutton\u00a0Balaban shares that the north side of the house features a striking mural, with “the child modelled after the seller’s eldest daughter,”\u00a0while the sellers themselves painstakingly stripped the original spruce staircase by hand.<\/p>\n

\"190<\/p>\n

The foyer with Gucci wallpaper.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Even the foyer has a bit of fashion history woven into it. “The wallpaper is Gucci \u2014 it’s out of print, and the owner is quite sad to part with it,”\u00a0Sutton Balaban told blogTO.<\/p>\n

\"190<\/p>\n

The kitchen.\u00a0<\/p>\n

The kitchen, meanwhile, is bright, functional, and actually usable, with stainless steel appliances and enough counter space to cook without playing a game of Tetris.<\/p>\n

\"190<\/p>\n

The backyard in the summer.\u00a0<\/p>\n

And then there’s the backyard.<\/p>\n

\"190<\/p>\n

The backyard in the winter.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Set on a rare 25-by-120-foot lot, the outdoor space is deep, green, and \u2014 maybe best of all \u2014 backs onto a quiet parkette. No neighbours staring back at you, just a little pocket of calm in the middle of downtown.<\/p>\n

\"190<\/p>\n

One of the bedrooms.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Inside, the home offers three bedrooms and three bathrooms.<\/p>\n

\"190<\/p>\n

The third floor loft space.\u00a0<\/p>\n

There’s also a third-floor loft that could easily become a cozy hideaway, studio, or storage space depending on your vibe.<\/p>\n

\"190<\/p>\n

The primary bedroom.\u00a0<\/p>\n

The primary suite is especially airy, with tall ceilings and its own four-piece ensuite \u2014 a modern perk that doesn’t take away from the home’s historic feel.<\/p>\n

\"190<\/p>\n

The basement.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Downstairs, the finished basement comes with a separate entrance, opening the door to an in-law suite or rental potential (and let’s be honest, finding a tenant this close to the University of Toronto wouldn’t exactly be a challenge).<\/p>\n

\"190<\/p>\n

The garage.\u00a0<\/p>\n

There’s also a detached garage with laneway suite potential \u2014 the kind of feature that tends to make Toronto buyers and investors perk up immediately.<\/p>\n

\"190<\/p>\n

The basement laundry room.\u00a0<\/p>\n

And if you’re into the kind of charming, slightly quirky details that give a home personality, the sellers are even including “some original blacksmith’s tools, currently in the basement,”\u00a0according to Sutton Balaban.<\/p>\n

\"190<\/p>\n

The kitchen with modern appliances.\u00a0<\/p>\n

As for the home’s history, it’s relatively rarefied. “As far as the sellers know, they are only the fifth owners in the property\u2019s history,”\u00a0she says \u2014 which, for a house of this age, is kind of remarkable.<\/p>\n

\"190<\/p>\n

The dining room.\u00a0<\/p>\n

But a big part of the appeal here is the location.<\/p>\n

With a near-perfect walk score of 97 and flawless transit and bike scores of 100, you’re steps from Harbord Street’s restaurants, bakeries, and caf\u00e9s, and just a short walk to U of T, Queen’s Park, the hospital district, and even Yorkville.<\/p>\n

\"190<\/p>\n

A little reading nook at the top of the stairs.\u00a0<\/p>\n

It’s also clearly a neighbourhood people get attached to. In fact, “the sellers loved it so much they used it as the backdrop for their engagement photos,”\u00a0Sutton Balaban notes.<\/p>\n

\"190<\/p>\n

An ensuite bathroom.\u00a0<\/p>\n

All in all, 190 Brunswick Ave. is the kind of listing that doesn’t come around very often.<\/p>\n

\"190<\/p>\n

The foyer.\u00a0<\/p>\n

It’s big, beautiful, and packed with original detail, but still feels warm and livable instead of museum-like \u2014 which is a tricky balance to pull off.<\/p>\n

\"190<\/p>\n

The primary ensuite.\u00a0<\/p>\n

And then there’s the price.<\/p>\n

\"190<\/p>\n

Another bedroom.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Listed at $1,850,000<\/a>, it’s surprisingly reasonable for an area where homes often hover closer to $2.5 million<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\"190<\/p>\n

The front porch.\u00a0<\/p>\n

So yes, “prepare to fall in love”\u00a0might be a clich\u00e9. But in this case, it actually feels earned.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"When a Toronto listing says “be prepared to fall in love,”\u00a0I usually roll my eyes a little. But…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":561350,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[194291],"tags":[216837,199619,74878,49,48,3302],"class_list":{"0":"post-561349","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-toronto","8":"tag-216837","9":"tag-avenue","10":"tag-brunswick","11":"tag-ca","12":"tag-canada","13":"tag-toronto"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/561349","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=561349"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/561349\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/561350"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=561349"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=561349"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=561349"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}