204 Beech Ave - The Design + Construction of a modern accessible home

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A quick update here. We’re getting loads of emails and messages asking how you can help us. Right now we’re trying to figure out exactly what will have the most impact. Once we have a plan we’ll update this page with some suggestions of what will prove most helpful not only for us, but for everyone who owns property.

For updates and more news on this you can follow me on Twitter @gteehan
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Welcome to 204beech, a blog that aims to focus on the design and build aspects of our home-to-be. Before I get into any details about our hopes and dreams for the place I thought this first post could focus on us. I had no intentions on writing much of a background but found it impossible to start without giving those interested some sense of how we got to where we are. Apologies for the length, but it’s awfully tough to make this short and sweet.

The pictures in this post are my family. My wife Melissa, our two beautiful boys, Cole 9, Sam who is 7 and me, Geoff. We live in Toronto, specifically the Beaches. We love it here. We can access nearly all the services we need by walking, we have easy access to great schools, parks and of course, the beach. We can drive to downtown in 10 or 20 minutes depending on traffic and have established some amazing friendships.

We’ve lived in this neighbourhood for about 10 years now. Our first place was on Elmer Avenue. When we bought it it was a rundown 100 year old 2 story home. We adored it. It took my father and I years to complete the renovation, the extent of which is worthy of its own blog. We never pursued the thought of moving or building a new home, though the thought had crossed our mind. The truth was, we were content in our little 3 bedroom house.

What happened to us in the summer of 2007 would change our lives forever. It was Friday, July 13th and it began like any other morning. We rushed to get the kids ready for school while simultaneously doing a 1000 other things. During the mayhem, Melissa mentioned her neck was stiff and that she must have slept on it the wrong way. The pain became worse within minutes. Nothing was providing any relief, not massage nor the hot shower. A few more minutes passed and pain turned to numbness. It started in her hands, then progressed to her arms and chest. It was clear she needed immediate medical attention so I called 911 and waited for the paramedics to arrive. The fire department were first to arrive. They checked her vitals and everything seemed normal, though they were obviously concerned with the symptoms she was experiencing. Five minutes later an ambulance showed up and she was rushed to St. Mike’s.

It had been about an hour since the pain began and the numbness had progressed to full paralysis. She couldn’t move anything below her neck and was beginning to have difficulty breathing. Eventually her breathing became so weak that she was put on life support, something she’d require for the better part of 2 months. During this period it had been determined that she had Transverse Myelitis. It’s rare and devastating in severe cases like hers. It has since left her paralyzed from the neck down and while she can move most of her body to some degree she is still confined to a wheelchair.

Transverse Myelitis (TM) is a clinical syndrome in which an immune-mediated process causes neural injury to the spinal cord, resulting in varying degrees of weakness, sensory alterations and autonomic dysfunction.

After the hospital she went to a rehab facility to regain any movement or mobility she could. She made enough progress in her core and legs to facilitate a few steps in a high-arm walker. Rehab was good for her but her arms were still weak and she required a wheelchair 99% of the time. 7 or 8 months passed for her as an in-patient and it was time for her to come home. The kids and I were finally getting Melissa back. While she was coming home, it couldn’t be to our house on Elmer. It had no bathrooms on the first floor, narrow doorways and a ton more issues that made the home inaccessible. The most logical thing we could do at the time was to buy a condo nearby so we could stay in the neighbourhood. We really didn’t want to put the kids through any further change that comes along with moving neighbourhoods.

Adjusting to condo living has been okay. We have our routines down and the kids have adjusted to the smaller space just fine. My wife and I…not so much. It’s been about two years here and it’s time for something bigger. In the beginning we contemplated making Elmer Ave wheelchair-friendly. We decided against it pretty early on. Tearing down and rebuilding Elmer wasn’t an option. Not only because of the small lot size but because it had hundreds of thousands of dollars invested in it. It was essentially a new home that wasn’t accessible and couldn’t be made accessible without tremendous additional costs and trade offs.

Why 204 Beech?
Price, scarcity and lot size. The last three years has had us essentially living in a hospital, a rehab centre and now a small condo. We held off making any huge changes in the hopes that my wife would have recovered to the point where she could use her arms and/or legs to get around Elmer – that hasn’t happened yet. 18 months ago we started looking at houses/properties. In that year and a half I’d guess there were around 8-10 properties on 50’ lots that came up for sale. (25’ lots don’t suit our needs as they aren’t wide enough and usually require going to 3 floors). Of these properties, all of them had inaccessible 3+ bedroom houses on them and were priced well outside our budget. Beech was the first home that came up in that period that had a 50’ lot even remotely close to what we could afford – It was priced about 25% less than even the cheapest house that came up. There hasn’t been another one since to my knowledge and I wouldn’t be surprised if this was the last. I suspect if we tried to sell it now it’d be worth half as much partially thanks to Ms Brown and Ms Bussin’s attempt at Heritage Status. The house is unlivable as is – it’s the reason the last owners left.

This isn’t just a Beaches or Toronto Issue
This isn’t about modern vs historic, nor is it about Melissa’s disability. It’s about property rights. Rights that go beyond the boundary of our neighbourhood. We wrote a due diligence clause into our purchase agreement. We hired an architect and an arbourist and ensured the house was NOT listed nor designated as historic before we closed the deal.

It’s one thing if we had have pushed for its designation it is quite another to thrust a designation upon us (or any owner) especially when the practical and financial consequences are onerous, let alone the merit of the designation itself. The reality is that the ones requesting the protection will not be the ones picking up the tab.

Is it historically significant?
Is this house quaint, cute & picturesque? Yes. Does it make people nostalgic about the beaches Victorian ancestry? Maybe. Do the neighbours enjoy looking at it? Well, I know one does, though I’m sure there are others. Is it worthy of designation because of it’s architectural design? No. Does it exhibit exceptional craftsmanship or detail? No. Was it designed by a noteworthy architect? No. Is it exemplary of a particular style? No. It is worthy of designation in it’s own right? No.

If this house gets designation it’s going to set the bar incredibly low. So low in fact that everyone in the Beach, Toronto and many parts of Canada will be at risk of losing property value and control over their property.