27 Dunlop Street

I had big plans. I was going to write an entirely imaginary history of this detached midtown house, both brick-clad and memory-full, based on the bits and pieces still scattered around. I'd have introduced you to Penelope, the dancer/dressmaker from Spain, and her husband who pilfered a marble slab from an Italian quarry and used it to make the coffee table. The rough and endless boat ride to Canada. You might well have believed me. But better for you, I think, to spend your precious time imagining your own future in the house, and what you might do to it, rather than a made-up and Flamenco-rich past. 27 Dunlop is a 1.5-storey, three-bedroom (one's on the main floor and being used as a dining room) home with a separate family room tucked away at the back, and a high-ceilinged unfinished basement. The eat-in kitchen and two full bathrooms are going to need and reward your attention, there's no getting away from it, but they'll drag the house purring into the 21st century. You could convert the family room and finish the basement and wind up with a six-bedroom investment property, but also why not keep it for yourself and the kids. There is definitely more than one smart future for the property. There are also hardwood floors here and there, and art deco curves as pure as the turn of a loved one's shoulder. The house has a nice shape and feel to it, is what I'm saying. The shingles were replaced just a couple of years ago (I feel obliged to mention), all the better to protect Penelope's memory, and the garden is both wide and deep.