Repurposing a fabled stable, part of Sandy Hill’s built heritage

Betsy Mann

The big white house sits on a large, double corner lot. Behind a wrought iron fence, there’s a children’s play yard. Off Osgoode Street, a wide driveway leads to a modern garage door. On the Blackburn Avenue side, a front door hides at the end of a narrow walk. But there are other doors, wide ones flanked by ornate lamps and high enough to drive an old-fashioned carriage through. These doors are blocked off, obviously not opened for a long time. What is the story behind number 43 Blackburn Avenue? Does the house date from the middle of the 20th century, as the garage and driveway would indicate, or do the carriage doors tell the real tale?

The history of this building goes back to 1903 when this whole block on Blackburn was subdivided into building lots. The double lot at the corner of Osgoode and Blackburn was sold shortly afterward to James Woods, a thriving businessman. (Think Woods camping gear.) The Woods family lived at 323 Chapel Street, now called Kildare House. and long since converted to offices and apartments.

James Woods housed his carriage and stabled his horses on his double lot a block away from the family home. You wouldn’t want the stable smells to be too close! Later, when motor cars replaced horses, the stables became Mr. Woods’ garage. Without human inhabitants, it did not have a municipal address.

Not until 1940 did the house acquire its current number 43. By that time, the architect Gordon Hughes had purchased the old stables and added on to them to create a large, gracious residence. He incorporated the carriage house into the new design, leaving the original wide doors that give modern passers-by a clue to the house’s humble origins.

The next owners, the Ellis family, lived there for over 35 years until the death of Mrs. Betty Ellis in 2012. At the time, developers were buying houses in Sandy Hill to convert into apartments, principally for rental to students. At the same time, Bettye Hyde Cooperative Nursery School was looking for new quarters. For decades, it had been located in All Saints church, but now the church was for sale. A number of concerned neighbours saw an opportunity to achieve two goals at once: save the heritage carriage house from developers and provide a space for much-needed child care. They formed a group of community investors that became the new owners of 43 Blackburn. They planned to rent the space to organizations providing services for families, including the neighbourhood nursery school.

The stables that had been transformed into a private home now had to be transformed again to suit the prospective renters. The second floor of the house became offices for professionals offering a range of health care services. The first floor was to be the new home for Bettye Hyde Cooperative which was in the process of changing from a nursery school with morning and afternoon programs to an early learning centre providing full-day child care. Renovations would be guided by the regulations of the provincial Day Nurseries Act. For instance, the ground floor had to be enlarged to accommodate enough children to make the child care centre financially viable. This was achieved without changing the look of the building by bumping out the wall of floor-to-ceiling windows on the Osgoode side. In 2015, the City recognized the carriage house conversion as an example of outstanding architectural conservation.

Two years ago, 43 Blackburn changed hands again. The group of community investors, confident now in the community use of the property, sold the building to Andrew Fleck Children’s Services. Bettye Hyde Early Learning Centre continues to occupy the first floor of the building. Next time you walk along Osgoode Street toward Strathcona Park, look across the play yard at the toy storage cupboards built against the wall of the building. Wondering about those three smallish windows between the cupboards? They mark where the original horse stalls were. Now you know!

If you would like to learn more about James Woods, the original owner of 43 Blackburn Avenue, check out the article about him on the Sandy Hill History site: www.ash-acs.ca/history/james-w-woods/.