Description: 

110 Maitland Street — known as the Crystal Gardens — is a 3 storey (including the basement) apartment building located on the north side of Maitland Street between Church Street and Jarvis Street in the Church-Wellesley Village neighbourhood of Toronto. 110 Maitland Street was constructed in 1928/1929 in a Revival style of architecture. The architect of 110 Maitland Street was Herbert Charles Roberts.   

The Crystal Gardens (110 Maitland Street) serves as a partial architectural vista for the northern terminus of Mutual Street. 

The Crystal Gardens was constructed on the site of a 19th century house which was demolished to allow for the construction of the apartment building. The Crystal Gardens was originally assigned the address 106 Maitland Street. The address changed to 110 Maitland Street during the early 1930s. 

The Crystal Gardens at 110 Maitland Street, Toronto is likely named after the Crystal Garden in Victoria, British Columbia. Victoria's Crystal Garden was designed and built in 1925 by architects Francis Mawson Rattenbury and Percy Leonard James on commission for the Canadian Pacific Railway (who owned the neighbouring Empress Hotel). The Crystal Garden was modelled after London's Crystal Palace and contained Victoria's first indoor swimming pool, as well as Canada's first indoor swimming pool with year-round heating. As of the time of its construction, it was a unique building in Canada. The Crystal Garden also contained the largest saltwater pool in the British Empire as of that point in time. Victoria's Crystal Garden is now part of the Victoria Conference Centre. 

As of 1930, the Crystal Gardens (110 Maitland Street) contained approximately 33 to 35 apartments. Notably, the Crystal Gardens contains a large rear wing on the north elevation of the building. 

As of 2014, 110 Maitland Street was also known as the Maitland Arms. Further research is required to determine at what point in time this name came into use. 

Architect - Herbert Charles Roberts: 

The architect of the Crystal Gardens at 110 Maitland Street was Herbert Charles Roberts (1888-1949). 

The Biographical Dictionary of Architects in Canada — 1800-1950 provides the following biography of Herbert Charles Roberts:  

"Herbert Charles Roberts (1888-1949) was born near Grogley, Company, Cornwall, England on 21 January 1888 and studied at Harleigh College in Bodmin County, Cornwall. He emigrated to Canada in 1909 and attended classes at the Toronto Technical School for three years. Robert joined the Ontario Association of Architects in January 1912 and specialized in the design and construction of apartment blocks in the Toronto area. By 1931 he claimed to have "... designed and supervised over 200 buildings including apartments, factories, warehouses, stores, garages, houses, etc." His best known work is the refined Art Deco design for the Mayfair Mansions Apartments at 400 Avenue Road in Toronto (1931). Roberts died in Oakland, California on 14 November 1940." 

Herbert Charles Roberts was particularly active in the Church-Wellesley Village neighbourhood during the 1920s and 1930s. Buildings in the area associated with Roberts include: the Biltmore Apartments (1927/1928) at 33 Maitland Street; the Palamar Apartments (1928) at 214 Wellesley Street East; the Crystal Gardens (1928/1929) at 110 Maitland Street; the Carlton Court Apartments (1929) at 88-92 Carlton Street; and the Star Mansions Apartments (1930/1931, demolished 2021) at 61-63 Charles Street East. Roberts also designed the Crown Hotel (now the EconoLodge) at 335 Jarvis Street (near the intersection of Gerrard Street East and Jarvis Street) in 1928. Most of Roberts' buildings were in the Art Deco and/or Revival styles of architecture. 

Allan Fleming:

Allan Fleming and his wife Nancy (née Chisholm) resided at 110 Maitland Street during the early 1950s. Allan Fleming (1929-1977) was one of the most prominent Canadian graphic designers of the 20th century. The Flemings moved to London (England) in 1953 and later returned to Canada in 1955. 

Current Situation:

In 2016, 110 Maitland Street was sold as a "prime redevelopment opportunity." The current owner — since the 2016 sale — appears to be Minto, a large development company. Since approximately 2019, the building has been vacant and increasingly derelict. 

As of early January 2022, no formal redevelopment applications for 110 Maitland Street have been made publicly available. However, in late 2018 or early 2019, Minto commented that current municipal plans and policies of the City of Toronto were restricting their ability to intensify and/or redevelop 110 Maitland Street in certain ways. Minto's comments are indicative of an interest in redeveloping the site. Their comments are available in full on the provincial Ministry of Municipal Affairs and Housing website: https://ero.ontario.ca/comment/26771

Steps should be taken to ensure on site heritage resources are not lost to demolition during potential future redevelopment of 110 Maitland Street.

(Research by Adam Wynne)