This enigmatic block sits just west of the St. Patrick's Basilica campus. From a distance it looks almost shabby — close up it surprises us with a quiet elegance, albeit one so understated, it almost mumbles.
Ornamentation is minimal. The cornice-and-pediment assure us that this indeed an apartment building and not a small textile factory. The foundation is cinder-block, the rest of the exterior is finished in what seem to be faux-sandstone blocks, larger than bricks but smaller than those used in the foundation. "Terracotta" accents are dyed to colour.
I can find no newspaper mentions of this address before 1935. Chris Ryan lists 290 Gloucester as the "Waldemar", however I can only find that name associated with 114 Somerset W. at Cartier (as early as 1925), since demolished.
