The place
A five-plus-one bedroom, nine-bathroom house in Kleinburg. It comes with space to park 20 cars (yes, 20 cars) across two indoor garages, including a Batman-inspired underground parking cave accessed via a hidden car elevator.
Location: Kleinburg
Price: $9,990,000
Size: 15,000 square feet
Bedrooms: 5+1
Bathrooms: 9
Agent: Adam Brind, Kim Nichols and Khalen Meredith, Sotheby’s Realty
A five-plus-one bedroom, nine-bathroom house in Kleinburg. It comes with space to park 20 cars (yes, 20 cars) across two indoor garages, including a Batman-inspired underground parking cave accessed via a hidden car elevator.
It’s located on a cul-de-sac in a newer subdivision, on land that was previously part of a golf course. Most of the lots here were purchased vacant before custom luxury homes were built. The current seller, who owns a millwork and cabinetry business, completed this place in 2022. He lived in it for about a year before putting it on the market.
Residents are a short drive from the village of Kleinburg and its boutiques, cafés and restaurants. The McMichael Canadian Art Collection and its surrounding trails are about 10 minutes away.
Related: $28 million for a humongous North York mansion off Bayview with a 40-seat home theatre
Here’s a look at the façade of the home. There’s a walking trail to the right.
The front door is a towering 12 feet tall.
There’s heated porcelain tile in the foyer.
The solid oak staircase, featuring a glass railing and a polished concrete wall, is the first feature to gaze upon.
There’s a series of glass-walled rooms throughout the main floor.
This office space has a funky sliding wooden door made by the owner’s millwork company.
Inside the office, there are automatic blinds and built-in walnut open shelving surrounding a TV.
Across from the office is a pebble-floored jewel box housing a 50-year-old bonsai tree.
Next to the bonsai is a temperature-controlled wine room.
The inside of the wine room feels like a gallery, with bottles displayed as works of art.
Down the hall is the impossibly sprawling kitchen, living and dining space. There’s white oak hardwood flooring, plus porcelain tile in the kitchen.
The reverse view of the dining space reveals the exit to the backyard—all five doors pivot open.
The waterfall kitchen island is porcelain, with two sinks (one with a touch-free faucet), plus seating for 10 people.
There’s a Miele six-burner gas stove, plus a pot-filler tap.
The kitchen is also equipped with two wall ovens, two wine fridges, two dishwashers, an espresso machine and a warming rack, all by Miele.
This hallway behind the kitchen loops back to the front office area.
The hallway also features some additional storage and prep space.
The living room has a concrete accent wall with built-in shelving. There’s also a water-vapour fireplace and a decorative wood ceiling loaded with LED lighting and built-in speakers.
Also on the main floor are four of the five bedrooms, each with an ensuite bathroom and automatic blinds. Here’s the main bedroom, with a built-in headboard and side tables as well as floor-to-ceiling windows.
The main suite also comes with a water-vapour fireplace and a walk-in closet.
The quirkiest feature of the walk-in may be these mirror shoe shelves—that or the central display island.
The main ensuite has heated porcelain tile floors, a double floating vanity with a fogless mirror and a soaker tub as well as a glass-and-porcelain shower with dual rainfall heads, a jet system, a mirror storage nook and a bench.
Here’s the second bedroom on the main floor.
An opposite view of the second bedroom showcases the built-in cabinetry.
The second bedroom’s ensuite has heated floors, a wall-hung toilet and art in the shower, which can be swapped out.
The laundry room is also on the main floor, with built-in hampers.
The second floor is an open loft level. Here’s a view from the landing, overlooking the foyer.
The entire second floor could be turned into a main suite or an in-law suite. It has its own separate entrance from the garage, and its full kitchen comes with an electric stove, a dishwasher and a wine fridge, all by Thermador, plus a black porcelain island.
Those green doors lead to storage spaces, a second laundry room and a furnace room.
There’s another steam fireplace in the loft with a porcelain surround and built-in seating with storage underneath. It separates the bedroom and ensuite bathroom from the living area. Those floor-to-ceiling brackets on the left are used to display art.
Here’s the bedroom on the other side of that wall.
The view from bed showcases the movie screen and industrial-style open ducts.
Just beyond the bedroom is this ensuite with a soaker tub and a double vanity.
The open glass shower has multiple jets and a waterfall head.
There’s more fun heading down to the basement: a pebble-floored garden tucked under another beautiful staircase.
This view shows off the rec area, the gym, the LED lighting and the wine-tasting room.
Around the corner are another kitchen and bathroom, making the basement ideal for a nanny suite.
The basement also features this carpeted theatre room, with tiered seating and panelled walls.
And this lounge.
The gym has padded flooring and a mirror wall.
This cigar room has a cedar humidor and an air extractor.
Currently, this space is set up as a wine-tasting room, but the sporting type could even transform it into a shooting range.
Here’s the wine cellar, clad in hickory with a pea gravel floor.
And the pièce de résistance: a Batcave-style underground parking garage that the owner has dubbed the V12 Lounge. There’s a built-in carbon dioxide detector in the garage, along with an anti-theft fogger, meaning that, if someone were to break in, they would be become shrouded in mist, preventing their escape.
See the splash of colour lining the walls? Those are actually display cases loaded with comic book memorabilia.
Hidden behind the Bat Signal is the car elevator.
There’s also a smaller garage on the main floor, complete with its own display area.
Here’s an exterior view of the main floor garage. That patch of artificial turf on the left conceals the hidden car elevator.
Your ride, Master Wayne.
Behind the house is a large patio for entertaining, with heated floors and a dual-sided fireplace.
It also has an outdoor kitchen with a grill and a fridge.
Here’s the full back of the mansion. That shipping container on the right is actually a cabana.
One of the cabana’s glass walls opens up.
Finally, an aerial view of the home, with the Toronto skyline in the distance.
Have a home that’s about to hit the market? Send your property to [email protected].
TORONTO – The Toronto Regional Real Estate Board says home sales in October surged as buyers continued moving off the sidelines amid lower interest rates.
The board said 6,658 homes changed hands last month in the Greater Toronto Area, up 44.4 per cent compared with 4,611 in the same month last year. Sales were up 14 per cent from September on a seasonally adjusted basis.
The average selling price was up 1.1 per cent compared with a year earlier at $1,135,215. The composite benchmark price, meant to represent the typical home, was down 3.3 per cent year-over-year.
“While we are still early in the Bank of Canada’s rate cutting cycle, it definitely does appear that an increasing number of buyers moved off the sidelines and back into the marketplace in October,” said TRREB president Jennifer Pearce in a news release.
“The positive affordability picture brought about by lower borrowing costs and relatively flat home prices prompted this improvement in market activity.”
The Bank of Canada has slashed its key interest rate four times since June, including a half-percentage point cut on Oct. 23. The rate now stands at 3.75 per cent, down from the high of five per cent that deterred many would-be buyers from the housing market.
New listings last month totalled 15,328, up 4.3 per cent from a year earlier.
In the City of Toronto, there were 2,509 sales last month, a 37.6 per cent jump from October 2023. Throughout the rest of the GTA, home sales rose 48.9 per cent to 4,149.
The sales uptick is encouraging, said Cameron Forbes, general manager and broker for Re/Max Realtron Realty Inc., who added the figures for October were stronger than he anticipated.
“I thought they’d be up for sure, but not necessarily that much,” said Forbes.
“Obviously, the 50 basis points was certainly a great move in the right direction. I just thought it would take more to get things going.”
He said it shows confidence in the market is returning faster than expected, especially among existing homeowners looking for a new property.
“The average consumer who’s employed and may have been able to get some increases in their wages over the last little bit to make up some ground with inflation, I think they’re confident, so they’re looking in the market.
“The conditions are nice because you’ve got a little more time, you’ve got more choice, you’ve got fewer other buyers to compete against.”
All property types saw more sales in October compared with a year ago throughout the GTA.
Townhouses led the surge with 56.8 per cent more sales, followed by detached homes at 46.6 per cent and semi-detached homes at 44 per cent. There were 33.4 per cent more condos that changed hands year-over-year.
“Market conditions did tighten in October, but there is still a lot of inventory and therefore choice for homebuyers,” said TRREB chief market analyst Jason Mercer.
“This choice will keep home price growth moderate over the next few months. However, as inventory is absorbed and home construction continues to lag population growth, selling price growth will accelerate, likely as we move through the spring of 2025.”
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 6, 2024.
The Canadian Press. All rights reserved.
HALIFAX – A village of tiny homes is set to open next month in a Halifax suburb, the latest project by the provincial government to address homelessness.
Located in Lower Sackville, N.S., the tiny home community will house up to 34 people when the first 26 units open Nov. 4.
Another 35 people are scheduled to move in when construction on another 29 units should be complete in December, under a partnership between the province, the Halifax Regional Municipality, United Way Halifax, The Shaw Group and Dexter Construction.
The province invested $9.4 million to build the village and will contribute $935,000 annually for operating costs.
Residents have been chosen from a list of people experiencing homelessness maintained by the Affordable Housing Association of Nova Scotia.
They will pay rent that is tied to their income for a unit that is fully furnished with a private bathroom, shower and a kitchen equipped with a cooktop, small fridge and microwave.
The Atlantic Community Shelters Society will also provide support to residents, ranging from counselling and mental health supports to employment and educational services.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Oct. 24, 2024.
The Canadian Press. All rights reserved.
Housing affordability is a key issue in the provincial election campaign in British Columbia, particularly in major centres.
Here are some statistics about housing in B.C. from the Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation’s 2024 Rental Market Report, issued in January, and the B.C. Real Estate Association’s August 2024 report.
Average residential home price in B.C.: $938,500
Average price in greater Vancouver (2024 year to date): $1,304,438
Average price in greater Victoria (2024 year to date): $979,103
Average price in the Okanagan (2024 year to date): $748,015
Average two-bedroom purpose-built rental in Vancouver: $2,181
Average two-bedroom purpose-built rental in Victoria: $1,839
Average two-bedroom purpose-built rental in Canada: $1,359
Rental vacancy rate in Vancouver: 0.9 per cent
How much more do new renters in Vancouver pay compared with renters who have occupied their home for at least a year: 27 per cent
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Oct. 17, 2024.
The Canadian Press. All rights reserved.
‘Do the work’: Ottawa urges both sides in B.C. port dispute to restart talks
Man facing 1st-degree murder in partner’s killing had allegedly threatened her before
‘I get goosebumps’: Canadians across the country mark Remembrance Day
Surrey police transition deal still in works, less than three weeks before handover
From transmission to symptoms, what to know about avian flu after B.C. case
Bitcoin has topped $87,000 for a new record high. What to know about crypto’s post-election rally
Wisconsin Supreme Court grapples with whether state’s 175-year-old abortion ban is valid
Twin port shutdowns risk more damage to Canadian economy: business groups