The downtown building where acclaimed director Norman Jewison lived and worked is for sale. Take a look inside
Acclaimed Canadian filmmaker Norman Jewison spent four decades putting the finishing touches on films like “Moonstruck” and “The Hurricane” inside a rare five-and-a-half storey property in the heart of downtown Toronto and now someone has the chance to buy a piece of movie-making history.
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A property for sale in Toronto’s Church-Wellesley neighbourhood is being lauded as a “rare property of understated distinction” thanks to its famous former resident and impressive upkeep. (Sotheby's International Realty)
18 Gloucester Lane is located between Yonge and Church streets and was the “creative home base” for internationally acclaimed Canadian filmmaker Normal Jewison, who developed, produced, and edited his major cinematic works behind its walls. (Sotheby's International Realty)
The five-and-a-half storey property was commissioned by Lionel Rawlinson—a prominent cabinet maker and furniture dealer—and built in 1912. It has since been modernized inside, and it is one of very few buff brick buildings remaining in Toronto, according to the listing agent. (Sotheby's International Realty)
“This is a buff brick building, so a yellow brick building and it’s all four walls, which is really uncommon,” said Sotheby’s International Realty broker Shirley Yoon Kim. “It was the most expensive brick that was coming out of Brick Works or Pottery Road.” (Sotheby's International Realty)
“So, even if you're walking down certain prime streets, like in the old city–Palmerston is a good example, or Beaconsfield Avenue is a really great example in the sort of west end pockets–you see the yellow brick, or buff brick, facade. But if you were to look down on the side of the houses, at some point they turn into a red brick. When it comes to industrial buildings, they were usually most commonly built with a combination of red or a gray brick.” (Sotheby's International Realty)
Now listed on the City of Toronto’s Inventory of Heritage Properties, 18 Gloucester Lane is one of the few remaining industrial buildings from the city’s early 20th-century building boom, according to Sotheby’s. (Sotheby's International Realty)
Jewison, who is best known for directing films like “Moonstruck,” “The Hurricane,” and “Fiddler on the Roof” among others, took over the property in the late 1970s and turned it into his own personal creative base and pied-à-terre for over four decades. (Sotheby's International Realty)
“In the late 70s, Norman had really reached a big height in his film career,” said Kim. “He's based out of LA, which is where Hollywood is and what he wanted to do was really incubate and build the Canadian cinema industry. He wanted to bring that back.” (Sotheby's International Realty)
“He had purchased this building in the late 70s and really envisioned it after what Robert De Niro had in New York, because De Niro had his Tribeca building, which is like a big production headquarters, this sort of multi-level building where it's just all about film. There's such a collaborative energy, and that's really what Norman did with them with 18 Gloucester Lane.” (Sotheby's International Realty)
Sotheby’s said writers, production designers, editors, and art directors all frequented the building. The first level housed full post-production facilities and was considered an “incubator and creative studio” for many of Jewison’s most popular films, and he often referred to the building as his “mini Tribeca.” (Sotheby's International Realty) (MELISSA MORAITIS)
Jewison’s presence was so entrenched in the building, that a small park adjacent to the property is now named Norman Jewison Park. He was known to frequent the green space with his golden retriever, Barney, and according to Sotheby’s, was the driving force behind the city installing a dog fountain there. (Sotheby's International Realty)
His pied-à-terre was located on the fifth floor and upper half storey, with an elevator opening directly into the suite. Features of the unit include a reception desk, herringbone brick fireplace, a full kitchen, and a concealed private office behind mirror panels. (Sotheby's International Realty)
The office spaces take up the four other floors of the building, and Sotheby’s describes each level as a “self-contained workspace.” The second, third, and fourth floors have modernized flooring, lighting, and feature two washrooms and a kitchenette per level. (Sotheby's International Realty)
Kim describes the building as a “rare example of enduring architecture.” (Sotheby's International Realty)
“Buildings like this that have been this well maintained, that have this type of provenance and storied past or history, they're really, really rare,” Kim said. “You know, so often these have become converted as part of assemblies for larger developments and in terms of how they've been demised or divided up, that reverence has been lost, the respect for the actual architecture and the floor plans have been lost.” (Sotheby's International Realty)
“One of the very many unique features of the properties is that it's been so respected. So, we've got a number of floors that are completely modernized, but the modernization has been done with the direction of an architect. So, you have sistemalux lighting, you have paint colours that pay respect to what would work with an industrial building, so it's rare that way.” (Sotheby's International Realty)
The property is listed for sale at $7,900,000 with 9,792 square feet of space, two plus one bedrooms, and nine plus one bathrooms. (Sotheby's International Realty)
The unit is fully air conditioned, with natural gas and baseboard heating. There's even a sauna featured inside. Kim said the ideal buyer for the space would be someone who respects the property’s history. (Sotheby's International Realty)
“It's about the next chapter of this building,” she explained. “This building has had such a beautiful, rich history to it. So, for that next owner, it really is about what's the next chapter of stewarding this building.” (Sotheby's International Realty)
“I fundamentally believe (the next owner) is someone who has an expansive mind or an expansive approach, so they're looking at the building through a lens of maintaining it in the structure… But I really think it's going to be someone that's maybe a visionary who has a keen interest or reverence for Toronto's history.” (Sotheby's International Realty)
Jewison passed away in Jan. 2024 at the age of 97. (THE CANADIAN PRESS/Aaron Vincent Elkaim)
