James Cooper Mansion, 28 Linden St: Tridel Tower, 1880s Clubhouse

James Cooper Mansion is the only building I know in Toronto where you walk across a bridge from a modern tower to work out on the third floor of a Victorian house. Tridel restored the 1880s mansion on Sherbourne and put the lounge, party room and gym inside it, then built a tower of 274 suites behind. You pay for that story in the price per square foot, and I think it is worth knowing exactly what you get. I’m Jatin Dua, RE/MAX Quantum Realty.

The mansion, and how it was saved

James Cooper was a Victorian shoe and boot manufacturer who built this house on Sherbourne around 1881 to 1882, when the street was one of the city’s most fashionable addresses. The Globe and Mail reports that it later served as a treatment facility, and that the Knights of Columbus took it over in 1910 and added extensions, including a bingo hall.

Tridel was required to preserve the house as part of the condo project. Restoration began in 2008 under Burka Architects and Goldsmith Borgal and Company Architects, and the roughly 7,000-square-foot house had to be moved to make room for shoring and excavation. UrbanToronto described the move at the time as the heaviest building relocation in Canadian history.

The restored house now faces Sherbourne, with the original wood floors, fireplace mantels and shutters kept or repaired. The ground floor has ceilings of about 15 feet with elaborate mouldings. It is the first thing you see from the street, and the tower behind it is deliberately plain glass and spandrel so the house stays the focus.

The amenities live inside a heritage house

This is what sets the building apart day to day. According to the Globe, the mansion’s ground floor holds a lounge, a media room and a boardroom in the front parlour. The second floor has a party room, a bar and a billiard room. The third floor, likely the old servants’ quarters, is the fitness centre, reached by a bridge from the tower.

The interiors were designed by Hefele Makowka Design Associates, whose work on the project won a 2011 Award of Excellence from the Association of Registered Interior Designers of Ontario. Hosting a dinner in a Victorian parlour with 15-foot ceilings is a very different experience from booking a party room in a podium.

Heritage space comes with heritage maintenance. Old masonry, wood windows and original millwork cost more to look after than drywall and glass, and the corporation carries that cost. That is not a reason to walk away, but it is a reason to read the reserve fund study with the mansion specifically in mind.

Suites: from one-bedrooms to very large upper suites

condos.ca records suites from about 510 to 2,515 square feet, one of the widest ranges in this part of the city. Most of what comes up for sale is one-bedrooms, one-plus-dens and two-bedrooms in typical early-2010s sizes, but the top of the range holds large suites that compete on space with houses in nearby Rosedale and Cabbagetown.

Being a Tridel tower from this era, you can expect conventional concrete construction and builder-standard finishes of the time, many now updated by owners. I could not find a reliable source for ceiling heights in the tower itself, so measure when you visit, and do not assume the mansion’s 15-foot ceilings apply anywhere but the amenity floors.

The location is the north end of the Sherbourne corridor, close to Bloor and the edge of Rosedale. Sherbourne north of Wellesley is mostly residential, and the street now has a tall new neighbour: The Selby, a 50-storey rental tower that UrbanToronto notes took a similar approach of restoring a heritage house at its base.

Living at the top of Sherbourne

This end of Sherbourne sits between St. James Town to the east, Rosedale to the north and the Yonge and Bloor shopping district to the west. You are close to the Bloor Street retail strip and within walking distance of the Church-Wellesley Village, while the street itself is mostly residential.

St. James Town next door is one of the densest neighbourhoods in Canada, a cluster of 1960s and 1970s apartment towers, and that density shapes the sidewalks and local shops. Some buyers like the energy and convenience; others prefer the quieter streets of Rosedale a few blocks north. Walk it before you decide.

The street is also changing. The Selby has already added a tall rental tower nearby, and more redevelopment along Sherbourne and Bloor East is likely. For an owner here, that mostly means more services and more neighbours over time, plus some construction along the way.

Price per square foot and what the fee leaves out

condos.ca puts the building average at about $818 per square foot, a clear premium over the older 1970s and 1980s buildings around St. James Town and Wellesley. You are paying for a 2011 Tridel tower, a heritage amenity house and a location close to Bloor.

When I checked, three suites were listed for sale with asking prices from $549,000 to $1,488,000, covering a one-plus-den, a two-bedroom and a much larger two-bedroom. Their monthly fees ran from about $716 to $1,282, roughly $1.03 per square foot. That is on the higher side for a building of this age.

The fee includes common elements, building insurance, parking and water. Heat and hydro are not listed as included, so ask the seller for twelve months of utility bills and add them to your monthly budget when you compare this building with older ones that bundle heat into the fee.

Building specifications

Amenities at James Cooper Mansion

The amenity package is not unusually long, but its setting is unique: the lounge, party room, billiards and gym are spread over three floors of a restored Victorian mansion. Add a concierge and guest suites and it covers what most owners actually use.

Jatin’s honest take on James Cooper Mansion

James Cooper Mansion — 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.