126 Charles Street, Kingston

The lot at 126 Charles St is 166 feet deep, but it feels so much more than that, as if the weather may change by the time you reach the back fence, somewhere way beyond the found-art sculptures and the abundant, swooning tulip beds. The garden is brilliant and absurd, in other words: an olympic sprint, a vegetable allotment, a walk in the woods. The Inner Harbour two-storey house is no slouch either, with its rare-in-this-neighbourhood back staircase and more character-full than a whodunnit. The windows are trimmed as if with film star eyelashes and the colour schemes throughout are exhilarating. A covered front porch gives you somewhere to keep an eye on the traffic coming and going from The Elm, and the separate living dining rooms, the hang out kitchen and main floor laundry, allow for a decadent sort of urban sprawl. One of the three bedrooms upstairs connects to a dressing room, or secret art studio, and the clawfoot tub crouches below enough paintings that bathing will feel more like performance art. A big wraparound deck, parking at the side of the house, boiler heat. It’s like the perfect downtown wishlist just walked into the room and announced itself ready for you. Walk to the water, to the Mulberry School, to Daughters, to McBurney Park, work from home, hide from your kids…