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Panorama

Wednesday, December 5, 2012

Visit to Wolf House


Visited on Saturday, November 24, 2012

As I was walking towards the Wolf House from the Rosedale subway station, I was finding it hard to believe that the Wolf House could fit into a Rosedale neighbourhood at all. All the houses I had seen so far were traditional, brick houses, while the Wolf House was primarily made of steel and glass. 

Traditional brick houses of Rosedale neighborhood

Glimpse of Wolf House from the park just passed Mount Pleasant Rd.

As I crossed Mount Pleasant Rd. and continued onto Roxborough Dr., however, I began to notice that this portion of the neighbourhood was different from the rest. Almost all the houses on Roxborough were hidden in some way from the street, either by trees or walls. Some of the houses remained unexposed to the street because they were built higher up on a hill, or far away from the street. 

Small portion of Wolf House can be see on far right. 
On the left is an example of a property built on top of a hill with trees 
hiding it from the street

Although the Wolf House stand out as the most aesthetically pleasing building on the street, it fit in to the neighborhood much better than I expected, but only because there is not much to fit in to. It fit simply because not much of the neighbouring houses were completely visible. The contrast between the steel Wolf House and the surrounding variety of brick houses was shielded by the overgrown trees and positioning of the properties.

The Wolf House also fit in in another sense. Unlike the neighbourhood between the subway station and Mount Pleasant, the houses on Roxborough east of Mount Pleasant were all different. They do not match with each other individually, like in the first neighborhood. There is no coordination in material, colour or form. Because of this mish-mash, however, they collectively created a single context in which modern steel houses like the Wolf House can be reasonably placed next to brick houses with concrete walls and various shapes and colour. 

Two properties fifty meters down the road, both very distinct and different

Property in front of the Wolf House, across the street

The neighbourhood had a very secluded atmosphere, probably caused by the plentiful presence of tall trees that provide privacy both inside and out (this is something I noticed about the Wolf House in particular as well, although there are window facing the public park, tall evergreens block the view inside the house, while still permitting light to enter). The feeling of that strip of road was unlike most other suburban neighbourhoods. The layout of the houses, the lack of order and coordination, and the changes in elevation created a unique experience and a neighbourhood with character, topped with a beautiful steel and glass house at the end of the street.

A view up the street


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