41 Spruce St: 11 Condo Homes in Cabbagetown’s 1871 Medical College

41 Spruce Street is one of the most interesting small condominiums in Toronto. The red-brick building was Trinity Medical College from 1871, and in 1979 it and a row of new homes beside it became 11 condominium homes. You are buying a piece of Cabbagetown history, a house-sized home and a share of a tiny, owner-run corporation, all at once. I’m Jatin Dua, RE/MAX Quantum Realty.

From medical school to condominium

Trinity Medical College opened in this building in 1871, when the old Toronto General Hospital stood next door on the land south of Spruce Street. The school used it until about 1903. After the hospital moved away, the hospital land was cleared, and Gifford Street and Nasmith Avenue were laid out on it in the 1920s.

The building had other lives after the medical school; a Toronto archival photograph describes it as a mattress factory at one point. In the late 1970s it was converted into condominium homes, and the corporation was registered in April 1979. The Architectural Conservancy’s building record credits architect Ferdinand A. Wagner with rowhouse units completed in 1979 as part of the project.

The City’s Cabbagetown South heritage plan lists the old college as individually designated, which is a higher level of protection than simply being inside the district.

What the homes are like

This is not a building of identical suites. Published coverage of one home described four levels and about 1,840 square feet including the lower level: a tiled foyer, a separate kitchen, connected living and dining rooms with an arched doorway to the backyard, two bedrooms on the second floor, a primary bedroom on the third floor opening to a rooftop deck, and a lower level that could serve as another bedroom.

That gives you a sense of the scale. Homes here are house-sized, often with both a yard and a roof deck, which is very rare in a condominium. Other homes, particularly in the newer row, will have different layouts, so get the floor plan and measured size for the specific home.

Expect the quirks of a converted 19th-century building: thick brick walls, varied window sizes, stairs, and rooms shaped by the original structure. Those are the reason people buy here, and also the reason to inspect carefully. Ask about insulation, the age of the heating system, and how the conversion handled sound between homes, since 1970s standards were lower than today’s.

Owning in a heritage building and a heritage district

Heritage designation shapes what can be done to the exterior. The Cabbagetown South plan prefers that windows and doors be repaired rather than replaced, that replacements match the originals in style and placement with wood preferred, and that additions visible from the street respect the district. Double glazing on main facades is discouraged.

For owners, that means exterior work can cost more and take longer, and some changes may need a heritage permit. It also protects the character you are paying for. Ask the corporation which work has needed City approval in the past, and how heritage requirements are reflected in the reserve fund study.

With 11 homes and no management company, the owners run the corporation themselves. That keeps costs down and decisions close, but it puts a lot on a few volunteers. Ask who keeps the books, whether there are audited statements, and how the reserve fund study is kept current. Ask, too, how the corporation hires and supervises contractors for heritage masonry work.

Spruce Street, day to day

Spruce is a quiet residential street in the southern part of Cabbagetown, lined with Victorian houses. Riverdale Park West, Riverdale Farm and the Don River trails are a short walk east, and the Parliament Street shops and cafés are a few minutes west.

Regent Park’s park and aquatic centre are just south across Gerrard. This is one of the most walkable and best-preserved Victorian pockets of the city, and it changes slowly. The panel on this page covers transit.

The street also explains the name. Cabbagetown began as a working-class district of cottages and row houses built by Irish and English immigrants in the 1860s and 1870s, the same years the medical college went up. Young professionals began restoring the surviving houses in the 1960s, and the conversion of buildings like this one in the 1970s was part of that revival.

Pricing a one-of-a-kind building

With 11 homes, sales here are very rare, and at the time of writing there was nothing for sale and one home for rent. There is no meaningful building-wide price per square foot, and averages from a handful of sales would mislead you.

When I price a home here, I look at sales in the building over many years, then compare with Cabbagetown row houses and semis and with other small condominium townhouse complexes nearby, such as 350 Gerrard Street East and Owl House Lane. I then adjust for size, the yard and roof deck, parking, and condition. A home in the original college building and a home in the 1979 row are different products.

Ask what the fee includes and read it alongside the reserve fund. In a small self-managed heritage building, a low fee is only good news if the reserve fund is healthy. For past sales, ask me for a building sold report.

Building specifications

Amenities at 41 Spruce Street Townhouse

There are no shared amenity rooms, and nobody expects them here. The value is in the homes themselves, their outdoor space and a location a few minutes from Riverdale Park and the Don trails.

Jatin’s honest take on 41 Spruce Street Townhouse

41 Spruce Street Townhouse — frequently asked questions

Looking at Church–Wellesley, Corktown, Moss Park and Cabbagetown more broadly? Start with my Toronto community guide — the neighbourhoods, what each pocket is like, and how they compare.