371 Wallace Ave., No. 39, Toronto $1.
25 million Though Montrealer Martin Bélanger vowed he’d never move to Toronto, six months after he started a long-distance relationship with CBC Radio-One host Isabelle Ménard, he sold his detached house and relocated to the 416 four years ago. The couple had planned to rent a place together, but, instead, bought a condo in a coach house that’s part of a converted 1929 adhesives factory. They got a “good vibe” from the , and the condo was a partial loft, reminiscent of the industrial, loft spaces common in Montreal.
At 1,178 square feet, it was large enough for Bélanger, an advertising copywriter and published author short-listed for a , to work from home. Ménard was also able to broadcast Radio-One segments from the condo when COVID lockdowns prevented her from going to the studio. “When we bought the condo, we hated the cherrywood floors.
They were very dark and had been in fashion decades ago,” says Bélanger. “We were thinking we were going to renovate a little bit, but the bathrooms were really old, and it became a typical case of ‘while we’re at it ..
..’ ” The couple were referred to and “absolutely loved” what she suggested, so the “little” renovation became a complete makeover.
“It was a big endeavour, and a big leap, as we were in a new relationship, in a new city, buying a house together,” says Bélanger. “We had to locate to an Airbnb for two months with a big dog, as like all renova.
