IN THE MATTER OF THE ONTARIO
HERITAGE ACT
R.S.O. 1990, CHAPTER O.18 AND
CITY OF TORONTO, PROVINCE OF ONTARIO
215, 217 AND 219 JARVIS STREET
NOTICE OF INTENTION TO DESIGNATE
THE PROPERTY
TAKE NOTICE that Council for the
City of Toronto intends to designate the property, including the lands, buildings
and structures thereon known municipally as 215, 217 and 219 Jarvis Street
under Part IV, Section 29 of the Ontario Heritage Act, R.S.O. 1990, c.O.18, as
amended, as a property of cultural heritage value or interest.
Reasons for
Designation
The properties at 215, 217 and 219 Jarvis Street
are worthy of designation under Part IV, Section 29 of the Ontario Heritage Act
for their cultural value and meet Regulation 9/06, the provincial criteria
prescribed for municipal designation.
Description
The properties at 215, 217 and 219 Jarvis Street
are located on the east side of Jarvis Street, north of Shuter Street, within
the Moss Park neighbourhood. Constructed circa 1863, the properties comprise a
terrace of three identical dwellings, each three storeys with raised parlour
floors, and designed in the Italianate architectural style. Each property was
constructed for single-family occupancy, however, were subsequently modified
for rooming houses. In 1977 they were renovated to contain individual apartment
units to designs by Zeidler Partnership Architects along with the adjacent rowhouses
at 207, 209, 211 and 213 Jarvis Street.
The properties were included on the Heritage
Register in November 1977.
Statement of Cultural Heritage Value
Design and Physical Value
The properties at 215, 217 and 219 Jarvis Street
have design and physical value as representative examples of the Italianate
architectural style as applied to the terrace building typology; the properties
are also rare surviving examples of this type in Toronto. This architectural
style was popular in Toronto through the 1850s and into the 1860s, and was
applied to institutional and government buildings, commercial buildings, and
housing for those of moderate incomes, as is the case at 215, 217 and 219 Jarvis
Street. Features representative of this architectural style included the flat
roofs behind simple cornices; the use of classically derived and highly
detailed ornamentation; the raised parlour floors; and the segmental-arched
window openings.
The properties at 215, 217 and 219 Jarvis Street
display artistic merit through the design of the primary (west) façades with
highly- detailed and vibrantly coloured two storey bay windows, and the
contrasting use of red brick with buff stone and brick lintels and dentils. The
property at 219 Jarvis Street retains an entrance canopy supported by large,
fluted brackets which further contributes to the artistic merit and design
value of this property.
Contextual Value
Contextually, the properties at 215, 217 and 219
Jarvis Street are functionally and historically linked to the adjacent
properties at 207, 209, 211 and 213 Jarvis Street, a grouping of four
townhouses constructed circa 1879 and which have a similar setback as the
subject properties. Collectively, the grouping of properties was part of the
1977 redevelopment designed by Zeidler Partnership Architects during a period
when similar historic properties within the downtown east side were being
restored and incorporated into affordable and multi-family housing, at which
time the subject properties and those to the south were extensively renovated
to contain apartments and office spaces.
Situated on the east side of Jarvis Street north
of Shuter Street, the subject properties - alongside those at 207, 209, 211 and
213 Jarvis Street - represent the southernmost remaining properties that were
part of the initial subdivision of Park Lot 6 to the designs of John Howard and
initiated by William Jarvis, and are physically linked to the plan of
subdivision which called for narrow lots for the southern portions of the
subdivision (Jarvis Street), with larger and undefined building lots for the northern
portions.
Heritage Attributes
Design and Physical Value
The following heritage attributes contribute to
the cultural heritage value of the properties at 215, 217, and 219 Jarvis
Street as being representative examples of a terrace building type designed in
the Italianate style and for displaying a high degree of artistic merit:
·
The scale, form, and
massing of the subject properties, containing three separate units repeating a
shared design
·
The low-pitched
roofs, separated by protruding buff brick part walls and chimneys and behind
simple cornices with buff brick dentils
·
The red brick primary
(west) façades with buff stone and brick details
·
The segmental-arched
window openings with buff stone keystones and lintels
·
The two-storey bay
windows with segmental-arched window openings, wood pilasters, metals roofs
with standing seams, and carved wood details painted in vibrant colours
·
Entrance canopy at
219 Jarvis Street
·
The offset principal
separate entrances to each unit, located at raised parlour floors
Contextual Value
The following heritage attributes contribute to
the cultural heritage value of the properties at 215, 217, and 219 Jarvis
Street as being functionally, historically, and physically linked to their
surroundings:
·
The placement,
setback, and orientation of the structures on the east side of Jarvis Street
north of Shuter Street
·
The three-storey
scale of the primary (west) façades, which reflect their original
single-occupancy
·
The original lot
frontage as reflected in the vertical divisions of each unit separating the
grouping into three distinct components and indicative of the initial plan of
subdivision
Notice of Objection to the Notice of Intention to Designate
Notice of an objection to the Notice of
Intention to Designate the Property may be served on the City Clerk, Attention:
Registrar Secretariat, City Clerk's Office, Toronto City Hall, 2nd Floor West,
100 Queen Street West, Toronto, Ontario, M5H 2N2.; Email: RegistrarCCO@toronto.ca within thirty (30) days
of October 10, 2025, which is November 10, 2025. The notice of objection to the
Notice of Intention to Designate the Property must set out the reason(s) for
the objection and all relevant facts.
Getting Additional Information:
Further information in respect of the Notice of
Intention to Designate the Property is available from the City of Toronto at:
https://secure.toronto.ca/council/agenda-item.do?item=2025.PH24.10.
Dated at the City of Toronto on October 10, 2025.
John D. Elvidge
City Clerk