363 Nepean Street

I'm sure this house was the talk of the neighbourhood when it first appeared on a block of otherwise dour Victorian houses and corner stores. Now it sits, a stranded time-traveler nestled in the southern "armpit" of the Bowery Condo tower, 255 Bay Street.

The house is a grab-bag of styles, but I can bracket its construction to some time between 1933 and 1958, relying on a pair of grainy aerial photos. Between Goad and the City Directories, the lot seems not to have been built upon prior to 1923 — which is to say that #363 may well be the first and only house to have ever claimed this patch of ground.

152 Nepean

This once-charming brick-on-wood two-and-a-half-storey house dates to 1888ish, no later than 1891. It's a shame to see that decoratiove woodwork falling into neglect. There's some nice brick coursing above the windows, half-hidden by a small tree.

#152's first occupant was likely Thomas Green (or Greene, depending on the typesetter's mood), a surveyor for the Department of Indian Affairs. Shortly thereafter, the address became associated with the name Keenan. Might (1901) lists D. Douglas Keenan, a bookkeeper, as well as Miss Belle and Miss Jessie Keenan, both dressmakers.

Jessie Keenan, working mere steps from home, Feb. 9 1903

The vegetation here (to change topic abruptly) is interesting. That ragged-looking tree is an eastern (or northern) white cedar or "arborvitae" (Thuja occidentalis*). While common enough outside the city (there are some very old specimens in Rockcliffe Park), this tree was surely transplanted. Long-lived and slow-growing, this specimen may well have stood here since the house was built. 

If the liana struggling to tear down the porch is a Boston ivy, it's one of the gnarliest I've ever met. 

Apart from the tree and the vine, any garden that may have been, no longer is.

That's the Soho Lisgar in the background (viewer's right), as well as the yellow-clad Onyx Condos, the latter nearing completion.


*The name, assigned by Linnaeus in 1753, means "western Thuja", which would seem to contradict the popular name "eastern white cedar" — that is, native to eastern North America. As Thujas occur in Asia, we must suppose that Linnaeus described this one as "occidental" to distinguish it from its oriental relatives. Also, "cedar" a misnomer. Thuja is a kind of cypress, unrelated to true cedars.

Oh, and "Boston" ivy is native to China, Japan and Korea. And it's not a real ivy. I know, botany can be such a joy in the ass.

portrait: 266 Nepean

This little wooden house was built no later than 1888, at which time it was the home of William Hearl, a teamster. Woodburn lists him both as a boarder and the primary resident.

A teamster, in modern American English, is a truck driver, or a member of the International Brotherhood of Teamsters, a labor union in the United States and Canada. Originally, the term "teamster" referred to a person who drove a team of draft animals, usually a wagon drawn by oxen, horses, or mules.