Monday Morning Mania!

Houses

2 minute read

March 28, 2011

I found it!  I finally found it!

“That house” that I kept picturing in my mind over and over for the past two years – I finally happened to pass by it and snap off this quick video.

If you remember the video I shot a few years back about the house with the obscene Christmas lights (see HERE), you’ll be pleasantly surprised to know that this house is even more ridiculous…

Raise your hand if you think that taking this video and putting it on the Internet was an invasion of the homeowners’ privacy?

Sorry.  I don’t.

This house is in plain sight for all to see, and I’m surprised more people aren’t lined up to have a peek.

While I won’t publish the address (because that would be wrong), I will tell you that it’s the most bizarre house in the city of Toronto.

They have naked boy and girl toy-dolls hanging by their necks from trees.  Need I say more?

It’s creepy and borderline wrong.

What kind of message are they sending by hanging toy dolls and stuffed animals from their necks out front of their houses?

And what would be considered “stepping over the line?”  I mean, I suppose if they had real animals hanging by their necks, then it would be an issue.  But imagine being a child living on that street and having to see this every day?

When I was a kid living on Parkhurst Boulevard, we were afraid of the guy at the end of the street who we affectionately referred to as “Mister Weirdo.”  He used to wrap up his trees in burlap, which we had never seen before and assumed was some sort of creepy ritual.  He was about 6’4″ and barely 130 pound soaking wet, also had a long handle-bar moustache to complete the weird look (weird to children, at least).  We always skipped his house on Halloween…

But even as an adult, I would be afraid to live across the street from this bizarre Toronto house with the Mickey Mouse doll hanging by its feet from the front porch.

And what do you make of property values on that street?

A couple years back, I was taking around my good buddy who we’ll just call G-Fresh, and we were looking at houses with income potential.  I was telling G-Fresh that he should just take the easy lifestyle of a condo-owner (which he eventually did), but on this day, we happened to look at the house next door to the one with the Wonder Woman statue on the front porch.

I think it scared G-Fresh and perhaps scarred him a bit emotionally as well.  He bought a condo two weeks later…

A couple clients of mine passed on a house on Lappin last week because the neighbours seemed exceptionally shady.  The house was incredible, but my clients just decided that they didn’t want to take on the “risk” of the neighbours.

Perhaps this is something that many buyers neglect?

Do your research on the area, the street, and the individual neighbours themselves.

Otherwise, your next-door-neighbour could be performing an exorcism on a stuffed Barney the Dinosaur doll the day after you move in…

Written By David Fleming

David Fleming is the author of Toronto Realty Blog, founded in 2007. He combined his passion for writing and real estate to create a space for honest information and two-way communication in a complex and dynamic market. David is a licensed Broker and the Broker of Record for Bosley – Toronto Realty Group

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11 Comments

  1. DP

    at 8:08 am

    It is very funny to see this on your blog. By chance I walked by this house a few weeks ago and was equally as bewildered.

    You are kind not to disclose where it is. I am not sure I would be so nice since I just told my co-workers where to go to see it.

  2. Duncan Scott

    at 8:48 am

    Thanks for making my Monday Morning! Hilarious!

  3. moonbeam!

    at 9:02 am

    I agree that it’s important to check out your neighbours before you buy, if possible. A common eyesore in my area is multiple unplated vehicles parked in driveways. My biggest pet peeve is old couches and armchairs (as well as boxes of beer bottles on the front porch!!

  4. Ponch

    at 9:50 am

    Hey David – there’s another house with exactly the same motif in Leslieville, except it is even more densely covered.

    http://feverishthoughts.com/oddplanet/2010/05/03/strangely-decorated-house-in-toronto/

    Have you ever checked out the house ENTIRELY covered (including fence and garage) in tiny circular pieces of wood on Clinton (not worried about mentioning the street as piles of mainstream articles give the exact address) http://www.rawvision.com/articles/25/carreira/carreira.html

    http://www.stylenorth.ca/blog/2008/12/folly-casa-carreira/

    1. David Fleming

      at 9:55 am

      @ Ponch

      Agreed – these houses are bizarre, and likely more so than the one I wrote about.

      HOWEVER, you simply cannot trump a naked baby doll hanging by its neck. At least, I don’t want to see anybody try… 🙂

      Thanks for the links!

  5. househunter

    at 1:02 pm

    The link to the video doesn’t pop up on my (not so) smartphone

  6. JG

    at 3:23 pm

    diddo – cant even find it at Youtube?

  7. meow

    at 4:21 pm

    I thought in most neighbourhoods you can’t even paint your house certain colours. Is this even “allowed”?

  8. Craig

    at 8:08 pm

    It does take all kinds, which is what makes that area so funky and great to live in. As eccentric as this house is, it didn’t stop the house directly next door from selling last year.

  9. Richard

    at 8:23 am

    househunter, do you have an iPhone? That’s probably why the video doesn’t show up — you need Flash support.

    Apple sux.

  10. maybelline

    at 10:06 pm

    hi i’m new to your blog. what a hilarious intro!

Pick5 is a weekly series comparing and analyzing five residential properties based on price, style, location, and neighbourhood.

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