A terracotta-tiled home nestled on Jerome St. in the west end has stood 113 years. But the decades are catching up to it.

In what city staff are calling a “rare” situation, the heritage-registered property is slated be demolished.

“The building is not structurally sound. If you sneeze too hard, it’s going to fall down,” said Councillor Gord Perks (Ward 14 Parkkdale-High Park).

Neighbours at Dundas St. W. and Dupont St. have been vocal about their desire to see the home preserved, after the new owners began construction at the site last month.

The neighbours will have until next week to raise any concerns about the owners’ plans to level the home — such as requesting proper dust suppression on site, but their input will not affect the demolition order itself.

“It has to come down because it is not safe,” said Perks. However, “the tiles are the historical feature that the city is keen to figure out how to preserve,” he added.

Read more:

Neighbours want ‘beautiful’ terracotta-tiled home preserved in west-end Toronto

Heritage staff have finished photographing the site for documentation purposes, and are now in consultation with the owners to determine how to save the tiles. Perks said it’s too soon to say what this effort will look like, but that neighbours should rule out expectations of an identical-looking home.

“The guy who built it evidently was a bit of an eccentric … I’ve always just loved it,” Perks said. “There’s a lot going on there. And part of you wants to acknowledge that these very creative spirits have moved through our neighbourhood in the past.”

The home was erected in 1905 by west-end builder John Shelley Turner and is listed as a heritage site. He was born in Hartfield, England, and is recognized for another house at 24 Jerome St. and a church at 200 Annette St., which has since been partly converted into housing, his great-granddaughter Susan Marie Turner told the Star.

“We would hope for some kind of preservation (of the terracotta tiles) because we feel that it’s art,” said Turner, an associate scholar at the Ontario Institute for Studies in Education at the University of Toronto. Turner said she just recently learned about the family connection to this property, and would love to see the tiles saved, but doesn’t believe they need to be installed back onto the future rebuild.

“I don’t the think the owner has to be burdened with that. I think it would be wonderful, but I can’t picture it, what it would look like,” she said.

Helen Stringer, 84, is another family member (not known to Turner) who has fond childhood memories of her grandfather.

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“I was very close to him. He was a great person. He always told me that if you want something, go after it no matter how old you are,” Stringer said.

Though her grandfather and his work meant a lot to her, Stringer said she has no preference for what should happen to the tiles.

“As I said, time goes. You have to change.”