Owl House Lane, 390 Wellesley St E: Townhomes Around an 1890s House

Owl House Lane is a small 1980 townhouse condominium at the quiet north end of Cabbagetown, set around one of the neighbourhood’s most unusual Victorian houses. Wellesley Park, Riverdale Farm and the Necropolis are all at the end of the street. It is a lovely place to live, and like every small, older complex, it rewards the buyer who reads the paperwork. I’m Jatin Dua, RE/MAX Quantum Realty.

The Owl House at the centre

The complex takes its name from the Owl House, a late-Victorian house that the City’s Cabbagetown North heritage plan singles out for its unusual mix of forms and materials. The plan gives it the address 402 Wellesley Street East and dates it to 1892–93, while the Architectural Conservancy’s building record lists it at 390 Wellesley with 402 as an alternate, dated 1892.

Sources disagree on who was behind it. The Architectural Conservancy record names the builder as C.T. Jefferies, while a published listing feature linked the house to the illustrator C.W. Jefferys. I could not confirm the second claim from heritage records, so treat the history as a good story rather than a fact to pay for.

The house itself is part of the condominium, and at least one home in the complex is within it. Published listing details describe a three-level home of about 1,800 square feet with underground parking and condo-style exterior maintenance.

A 1980 townhouse enclave in a heritage district

The 21 townhomes were built in 1980 and registered as YCC-530 that September. That puts the complex among a handful of small condominium townhouse projects added to Cabbagetown between the mid-1970s and early 1980s, as the neighbourhood’s Victorian streets were being restored.

Being inside the Cabbagetown North Heritage Conservation District matters to owners. The district plan asks that original windows and doors be repaired rather than replaced, that replacements on main facades be wood and match the originals, and that additions be sympathetic to the district. How those guidelines apply to a 1980 building is a question for the City, but they certainly shape what can be done to the Owl House, and they can affect the cost and timing of exterior work.

Twenty-one homes is small. You will know your neighbours, and the board is close to the owners, but large repairs are shared among very few households.

Inside the homes, and the garage underneath

The complex has an underground parking garage and visitor parking. In Cabbagetown, where most Victorian houses have no driveway and street parking runs on permits, a garage space is a real advantage and supports resale value.

It is also the corporation’s biggest maintenance item. Garage membranes, drainage and the landscaped surface over the garage are where older townhouse corporations most often face large bills. Ask when the garage was last repaired, what the reserve fund study plans for it, and whether any work is in the board minutes.

I could not find a full set of floor plans for the 1980 townhomes, so treat each home on its own. Get the measured size and the floor plan, and walk every level. In townhomes of this era, the layout is usually stacked over two or three floors, with smaller rooms than a modern open-plan condo and a fair share of the area given to stairs.

Look closely at what has been updated: windows, the furnace and air conditioning, the electrical panel, kitchens and baths. A home that still has its original 1980 systems is a renovation project, and you should price it as one.

For a home in the Owl House itself, add the usual checks for an 1890s house: the roof, masonry, foundation and any remaining original windows. The heritage designation makes original details valuable, but it also makes some repairs slower and more expensive. Ask who pays for what: in a condominium, the exterior is usually common element, but the declaration decides.

The north end of Cabbagetown, day to day

Wellesley Street East ends at Wellesley Park, which the heritage plan notes was once the site of Cabbagetown’s only major industrial use. Today it is a quiet park on the edge of the Rosedale Valley. Riverdale Farm and the Necropolis are a short walk south and east, and St. James Cemetery is to the northwest.

Parliament Street’s shops, cafés and restaurants are a few minutes west, and the Cabbagetown Farmers’ Market runs at Riverdale Park West in season. This is one of the quietest corners of downtown, with very little through traffic. The panel on this page covers transit.

Pricing homes that rarely trade

With 21 homes, sales here are rare, and at the time of writing nothing was listed for sale or rent. There is no reliable building-wide price per square foot.

Homes in the complex are not all alike. A home within the Owl House is a very different product from a 1980 townhome beside it, and renovations vary. When I price a home here, I use sales in the complex over several years, other small townhouse complexes nearby such as 350 Gerrard Street East and 41 Spruce Street, and Cabbagetown row houses and semis, then adjust for size, parking and condition.

Ask what the fee includes. In townhouse corporations, heat and hydro are often on each owner, and the fee covers the grounds, the garage, insurance and the reserve fund. A low fee is only good news if the reserve fund is healthy, so read the two together. For a sales history of the complex, ask me for a building sold report.

Building specifications

Amenities at Owl House Lane

There is no gym or party room. The amenities are the parking, the setting and the parks at the end of the street. For many buyers that is a better trade than a gym they would rarely use, and it keeps the fee focused on the buildings and grounds.

Jatin’s honest take on Owl House Lane

Owl House Lane — 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.