Camelot on the Ravine Townhomes, Haldenby Terrace: 22 Homes, Rare Resale

Camelot on the Ravine Townhomes is one of the smallest condominiums I write about: 22 townhouses on a private terrace off the Wynford Drive pocket of Don Mills. They share a name with the mid-rise condo next door but are a separate corporation, built by a different company. If you want one, plan to wait, because homes here rarely come up. I’m Jatin Dua, RE/MAX Quantum Realty.

Two Camelots on one ravine

The name causes confusion, so I will start there. Camelot on the Ravine is also the name of an eight-storey condominium by Camrost-Felcorp, completed around 2004 on the north side of Wynford Drive, east of Don Mills Road, looking over the Don Valley Parkway. The townhouses on Haldenby Terrace carry the same name and sit in the same pocket.

They are not part of that building’s corporation. Condos.ca records the townhouses as their own corporation, TSCC-1532, registered in July 2003, with Uptown Building Group as builder. That matters when you buy: the townhouse owners have their own board, their own budget and their own reserve fund, and they do not share the tower’s lobby, amenities or costs.

When you search listings, make sure you are looking at Haldenby Terrace addresses and not apartment suites in the tower. The two products trade very differently, and comparing one with the other will mislead you on price.

What 22 owners means in practice

A corporation of 22 homes behaves differently from a tower. Decisions are made by a small group of neighbours who usually know each other, and that can make the complex well run and quiet. It also means every capital project is split 22 ways, so a roof or garage repair lands harder on each owner than it would in a building of 200 suites.

That is why the reserve fund study is the most important document you will read here. Check whether the fund is on track for the big items over the next decade, and whether contributions have risen sharply in recent years, which can signal that the corporation is catching up.

Also look at how many owners live in their homes. In a complex this small, a few investor-owned homes can shift the tone of the board, and the board minutes will tell you more than any listing will. Ask, too, whether the board has trouble filling its seats; in very small corporations, a willing volunteer or two makes a real difference.

Fees, parking and what you pay yourself

Condos.ca lists common elements, building insurance and water as covered by the fee. Heat and hydro are not listed, so you should expect to pay your own utilities, as you would in a freehold house.

Condos.ca lists a parking garage among the features, but parking is not in the fee inclusions. Before you make an offer, confirm how parking is set up for the specific home: whether it is a private garage, a space in a shared garage, owned or exclusive use, and whether any separate charge applies.

Condos.ca also lists pets and barbecues as permitted. Rules can change by vote of the board, so read the declaration and current rules on the status certificate if either matters to you.

Living in the Wynford pocket of Don Mills

This is Don Mills in the wider sense: the area that grew up around Canada’s first large planned suburb, with mature trees, ravine edges and a mix of houses, towers and offices. The Wynford Drive area sits between the Don Valley Parkway and Don Mills Road, so drivers can be heading downtown or north within minutes.

For shopping, the Shops at Don Mills a short drive away and the retail along Eglinton to the south cover most errands, but you will drive to most of it. The panel beside this review shows the nearest transit, schools and parks, and the Eglinton Crosstown line along Eglinton is the main transit change for this part of the city.

The name promises a ravine, and the Don Valley does run along the eastern edge of this pocket. If the home you are looking at backs onto green space, ask what part of the lot is common element and whether trees or slopes behind it fall under the City’s ravine protection rules. That affects what the corporation, or you, can build or cut back there, and it is worth knowing before you picture a new deck.

Pricing a townhouse that rarely trades

There was no townhouse listed for sale or lease here when I checked, and condos.ca does not publish an average price per square foot or a size range for the complex. With 22 homes, a year can pass with one sale or none.

That makes pricing harder than in a tower. The useful comparisons are recent sales within the complex, then other condo townhouses of similar size and age in Don Mills and Banbury, and then freehold townhouses nearby, which set the ceiling. I would not compare these homes with suites in the Camelot tower or in other Wynford Drive apartment buildings.

Because the fee does not include heat, hydro or parking, add your utility costs back in when you weigh a monthly fee here against an apartment building that bundles them. On a whole-cost basis these homes often sit closer to a freehold than to a condo suite.

If you are waiting for one, set up an alert and be ready with financing in place. In complexes this small, the buyers who are prepared when a home comes up are usually the ones who get it.

Building specifications

Amenities at Camelot on the Ravine Townhomes

There is no shared amenity package to speak of, and that is typical for a townhouse complex this size. You are paying for a house-style home inside a managed condominium, not for a gym or a concierge.

Jatin’s honest take on Camelot on the Ravine Townhomes

Camelot on the Ravine Townhomes — frequently asked questions

Looking at York Mills, Don Mills, Lawrence Park, Bathurst Manor and midtown-north Toronto more broadly? Start with my Toronto community guide — the neighbourhoods, what each pocket is like, and how they compare.