Carlton Lofts, 185 Carlton St: Four Suites in an 1865 House

Carlton Lofts is not a building most buyers will ever get the chance to own in, and that is the first thing to know about it. It is a two-storey 1865 house on Carlton Street, split into just four condominium suites in 1996, with the character of a Cabbagetown house and the paperwork of a condo. When one comes up, it is worth seeing, as long as you understand what a four-owner corporation means. I’m Jatin Dua, RE/MAX Quantum Realty.

An 1865 house with a story attached

The building is a yellow-brick house in the Georgian Revival style, built in 1865 and known as the William Jamieson house. Little is recorded about its first owners beyond a lumber business and possibly a dry goods store, according to a 2023 blogTO feature.

Its better-known chapter came later. Minnie and George Jamieson moved here from the Six Nations reserve in the 1920s, and Heritage Toronto, as quoted by blogTO, describes them opening their doors to Indigenous people who found themselves in the city. That history is part of why this house feels different from the Victorian rows around it.

In 1996 the house was converted into four condominium suites. It is not a warehouse loft, and it is not a modern infill; it is a house that happens to be governed by a condominium declaration.

What the suites are like

With only four suites, every one is different. A suite featured by blogTO had a two-bedroom, one-bathroom plan, with the primary bedroom upstairs opening onto a rooftop terrace, vaulted ceilings, oak floors, a wood-burning fireplace in the living room and a loft net strung above the kitchen. That gives you a sense of the character on offer: quirky, warm and very much not a builder floor plan.

The trade-offs come with the age. Kitchens in a converted house tend to be compact, rooms are shaped by old walls rather than by a modern grid, and sound travels in ways it does not in concrete. If you are coming from a tower, spend real time in the suite before you decide.

Wood-burning fireplaces in a condominium are uncommon and need care. Ask when the chimney was last inspected and swept, and whether the corporation or the owner is responsible for it.

A four-owner condominium corporation

This is the part buyers underestimate. MTCC-1111 has four units, which means four owners share every roof repair, every brick repointing job and every insurance premium. A $40,000 roof project is $10,000 each, not a rounding error in a reserve fund of a 300-suite building.

Small corporations can be run very well, with owners who know each other and agree quickly. They can also be run informally, with a thin reserve fund and decisions made over the fence. The status certificate, the reserve fund study and the last few years of minutes will tell you which kind you are buying into.

condos.ca lists MCD Independent Property Management for the building. Confirm that a manager is still engaged and what the corporation pays for it, because in a building this small management fees are a large share of the budget.

Insurance deserves its own conversation. A wood-framed interior inside 160-year-old brick, with fireplaces, costs more to insure than a concrete tower, and the corporation’s deductible may be large. Ask what the deductible is, what your own unit policy needs to cover to match it, and whether the premium has jumped in recent renewals.

Carlton Street between the Gardens and the Village

This stretch of Carlton Street sits where Cabbagetown’s Victorian streets meet the bigger blocks to the west around Allan Gardens. You get the house-lined side streets, the Riverdale Farm and Cabbagetown shops to the east, and the Carlton streetcar out front.

Carlton is a busy street with a streetcar line, so a suite facing it will hear traffic. Rear suites and the rooftop terrace are quieter. The automatic panel on this page covers transit, schools and walkability, so I will leave those details there.

The neighbourhood around you is settled rather than in flux. Cabbagetown’s streets are mostly heritage houses, so the views and the scale of the block are unlikely to change much, which is part of what you are paying for. The bigger construction stories in the east end are to the south, in Regent Park, the West Don Lands and around the new Ontario Line work.

Pricing a building that almost never sells

There is no meaningful building average per square foot for Carlton Lofts. With four suites, a single sale can move the average by a lot, and sales are years apart. Nothing was listed for sale or rent at the time of writing.

When I price a suite here, I lean on the building’s own sales history, Cabbagetown semi-detached and row-house sales per square foot, and the small number of other heritage-house condominium conversions in the area. Character, outdoor space and parking all move value more here than in a tower.

Financing is worth raising early. Some lenders look harder at very small condominium corporations, especially where the reserve fund is modest, so talk to your mortgage broker before you write an offer and make sure the status certificate is reviewed by your lawyer within the conditional period.

The fee covers common elements, building insurance and water. Heat and hydro are not listed as included, so budget for your own utilities, and in a house of this age ask for a year of heating bills. For aggregate recent trades, see my building sold report, and if you want to buy here, set up a saved search now, because the wait between listings can be long.

Building specifications

Amenities at Carlton Lofts

Shared amenities are limited, as you would expect in a converted house: an exercise room, parking at the back and barbecues permitted. The rooftop terrace is the real feature, and it is the reason the upper suite is so sought after.

Jatin’s honest take on Carlton Lofts

Carlton Lofts — 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.