This 39-unit apartment building became a non-profit housing co-operative in 1981, after a high-spirited tenant battle with the owner and the Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation (CMHC). Built in 1911, the former Hampton Mansions was a gracious, middle-class apartment house with fine chestnut woodwork, tiled gas fireplaces, large windows, good cross ventilation, and dumb-waiters connecting each unit to delivery areas in the basement. Hampton Mansions and a number of neighbouring properties on Winchester, Metcalfe, and Sackville streets had been assembled during the late 1960s and early 1970s by a developer hoping to follow the St James Town trend. The rise of neighbourhood activism saved the Don Vale neighbourhood from “renewal” and the properties were held as modestly priced rental accommodation into the 1980s. When a small consortium of business people bought the properties in 1980, the tenants realized that their homes were heading for luxury conversion. A tenants’ association was formed and a battle plan developed to save as much affordable rental accommodation as possible. When the dust settled nearly two years later, the tenants had achieved a significant victory – Hampton Mansions had been purchased through the CMHC co-operative housing program. The name “Three Streets” was chosen in recognition of the original scope of the tenants’ ambitious campaign.

Hampton Mansions had been constructed in stages as three separate, three-storey buildings. When it became Three Streets, extensive renovation was carried out, with attention paid to restoring and preserving the historic elements of the building. The exterior yellow brick was carefully cleaned; the original woodwork in the hallways and staircases was painstakingly refinished; unit rewiring was accomplished with minimal damage to existing plaster; replacement iron work was designed to retain the Hampton Mansions decorative elements. One of the most exciting improvements has been the creation of a “secret garden” in the large interior courtyard. The members also added an ample roof deck that has stunning views of Toronto in all directions.

Today, Three Streets houses individuals and families at both market and subsidized rents. Through an agreement with the AIDS Committee of Toronto, one subsidized unit is reserved for a member who is HIV positive.

Cynthia Wilkey