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The listing: 21 Roxborough St. E.

Asking price: $3.35-million

Taxes: $16,440.37 (2015)

Lot size: 37 feet by 136 feet

Agents: Janet Lindsay and Matthew Curry, Chestnut Park Real Estate Ltd.

21 Roxborough St. E., built in 1895

The Back Story

The house at 21 Roxborough St. E. was built in Rosedale in 1895, during the reign of Britain’s Queen Victoria. The grand, red brick house has typical Victorian features, such as a tower topped by a steeply-pitched roof. Inside, the ceilings are 10 feet high in the principal rooms.

Historical records show the east side of the semi-detached house was first occupied by Edmund Rychman, who worked for a firm of barristers and solicitors.

Decades later, Joan Chalmers, a philanthropist and supporter of the arts, purchased the semi-detached house and turned the interior into an open, contemporary space behind the heritage façade. Trims and details were stripped away, and the house was refurbished with the simplicity and white walls of an art gallery.

“When you step inside, it’s as cool and contemporary as you could want it to be,” real estate agent Janet Lindsay of Chestnut Park Real Estate Ltd., says.

The home was used as an art gallery by a previous owner.

Ms. Lindsay has co-listed the property with Matthew Curry, also of Chestnut Park, who says his family bought the house from Ms. Chalmers about 18 years ago. The first time he walked into the combined living and dining room, he recalls, the walls displayed works from Ms. Chalmers’ remarkable art collection.

“She really had it as a showcase,” he says.

The customized gallery lighting in the main room, which stretches 46 feet from front to back, is by Artemide. Along the side, doors open to a stone terrace and a walled garden.

The customized gallery lighting in the main room is by Artemide.

Ms. Chalmers’ immersion in the arts influenced many of the home’s elements: The industrial white railing twisting around the open staircase is in the style of the signature pipe railings designed by the famed New York-based architect Richard Meier.

According to the writer Betty Ann Jordan, who profiled the arts patron when she was recognized with a Governor General’s Award in visual and media arts, Ms. Chalmers supported artists struggling through the economic downturn of the early 1990s by transforming her home into a showcase for her growing collection of Canadian art.

The kitchen was relocated from the rear of the house to the front.

The House Today

Today the house has about 3,800 square feet of living space on three floors.

Mr. Curry says his family made very few changes the house after Ms. Chalmers’ extensive renovation.

A master suite was built on the second floor at the rear of the house.

The layout had already been changed, with the kitchen relocated from the rear of the house to a room at the front, overlooking the street. Today the large, eat-in kitchen has white cabinets, built-in appliances and a bay window with a granite-topped window seat.

A marble-clad ensuite bathroom has a large Jacuzzi tub with marble surround.

One change the Curry family made was on the second floor, where they had a new master suite created at the rear of the house. An addition above the great room allowed them to add sliding glass doors which open to a Juliet balcony with views of the city skyline during the months when the leaves have fallen from the backyard trees. A marble-clad ensuite bathroom has a large Jacuzzi tub with marble surround, set in a window alcove overlooking the garden.

The former master bedroom at the front of the house is currently used as a library and home office.

The former master bedroom at the front of the house is currently used as a library and home office with a gas fireplace and a sitting area in the window bay.

The third floor has ceilings more than 12 feet high and two bedrooms separated by a bathroom. One bedroom, overlooking the street, has a cathedral ceiling created in the home’s landmark turret, while at the rear, the second bedroom on that floor has a dormer window overlooking the garden and a passageway leading to a dressing room.

A bedroom with a dormer window.

Outside, the house has a red brick garage and a driveway that can accommodate five vehicles.

Ms. Lindsay points out that the property’s setting about one block east of Yonge Street means that residents can easily walk to the shops and cafes of the Summerhill area, as well as the subway.

“Even though there’s all this parking, you don’t need a car.”

The backyard’s stone terrace is a perfect spot for alfresco dinning.

The Best Feature

The south-facing back garden has a generous stone terrace which can be used for alfresco dining. There’s a separate seating area, a pebble walkway and underground sprinklers for watering the shrubs and perennials in manicured beds. Mature trees provide an overhead canopy for shade and privacy in summer.