Description: 

33 Maitland Street is a 3-storey, Revival style apartment building located on the south side of Maitland Street between Church Street and Yonge Street in the Church-Wellesley Village neighbourhood of Toronto. 33 Maitland Street was constructed in 1927/1928 and is known as the Biltmore Apartments. The architect of the Biltmore Apartments was Herbert Charles Roberts. The Biltmore Apartments contain 37 rental units. 


The Biltmore Apartments at 33 Maitland Street were named after the Vanderbilt family's Biltmore estate in Asheville, North Carolina. Constructed between 1889 and 1895, the Biltmore Estate is the largest private residence in the United States and is a well-known symbol of the Gilded Age. In March 1930, the Biltmore Estate was opened as a tourism site in hopes of bolstering the local economy during the Great Depression. The naming of the Biltmore Apartments after the Biltmore Estate follows a known trend of pre-World War 2 apartment buildings in Toronto having names that "evoked British Royalty, a certain level of class, and American symbols of modernity" (ERA Architects, 2018). 

ACO Toronto staff have noted that "the primary (north) elevation of the Biltmore Apartments is symmetrical with a three-gable design [...] the corners of the buildings are ornamented with quoins and the windows with simple stone lintels." In January 1928, the Contract Record and Engineering Review journal reported that the building was then under construction with an estimated project cost of $90 000. The building was described as being of a "mill and brick" construction. By April 1928, the building was ready for occupancy. Early rental ads from the late 1920s and early 1930s identify that most suites were 1 or 2 rooms and laud the building for its ample daylight, its modern amenities (such as Frigidaire appliances, Murphy Beds, and an incinerator), and its convenient location within a short walking distance of the new Eaton's Building at Yonge Street and College Street and other downtown sites. These rental ads also indicate that the management of 33 Maitland Street have been the same company as the apartment buildings located a short distance to the east at 54-58 Maitland Street (which were built and completed around the same time). 

While largely intact, the exterior of the primary elevation of 33 Maitland Street had undergone some modifications over time: modern siding has replaced half-timbers on the gables and third floor; an entry portico has been added around the front door; and the roof — originally tile (see attached images from 1971) — has been replaced with asphalt shingles. Most windows appear to have been upgraded. The rear (south) elevation of the building — which backs onto Sky Gilbert Lane — is comparatively plainer. 


The Biltmore Apartments replaced 3 houses which formerly existed on the site. Please note that 33 Maitland Street is occasionally referred to as 31-35 Maitland Street. 



Architect - Charles Herbert Roberts:  

The architect of the Biltmore Apartments at 33 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. The Biltmore Apartments at 33 Maitland Street would have originally shared significant stylistic similarities with the Palamar Apartments at 214 Wellesley Street East, which were built around the same time, albeit the Palamar Apartments have been modified over time (including removal of its gables). 


Wood-Wellesley Redevelopment Area: 

33 Maitland Street is an increasingly rare pre-World War 2 property within the former Wood-Wellesley Redevelopment Area.

 
In 1910, Eaton's purchased approximately 75% of the properties in the area bounded by Alexander Street, Carlton Street, Church Street, and Yonge Street as part of their shift northwards (which saw their flagship store built at the southwest corner of College Street and Yonge Street in 1928-1930). By the Great Depression and World War 2, Eaton's was looking to offload their surplus property holdings in the area. 
 

Subsequently, in 1952 the City of Toronto declared the Wood-Wellesley neighbourhood — bounded by Church Street, Wellesley Street East, Wood Street, and the Yonge Street Subway — as a "Redevelopment Area" via Bylaw 18746. This allowed municipal authorities to expropriate and/or purchase properties in the area and sell them to private developers at a nominal cost in the name of tackling urban blight, urban deterioration, and slum conditions; providing increased housing opportunities (particularly along the new subway line in a downtown district); and increasing property values and tax assessments. Significant debate arose as to whether this was an inappropriate application of municipal legislation to a neighbourhood which was reportedly in good repair and upkeep, as well as in regards to the postwar business-political relations in this decision. 
 

While this bylaw was repealed due to multi-year challenges and community opposition in 1957, much of the Wood-Wellesley area continued to undergo drastic redevelopment in the 1950s-1970s, which saw the mass demolition of 19th and early 20th century streetscapes and the construction of numerous high-rise apartment towers - including Canada's first high-rise apartment complex at City Park Apartments. Since the 1980s, numerous condominium buildings have also been constructed in the district. 33 Maitland Street has — until recently — been a holdout property during this. 



Sir Richard Moon (3rd Baronet Moon of Copsewood Grange) and Lady Gertrude Moon: 

During the early-to-mid 1950s until 1967, Apartment 208 of 33 Maitland Street was home to Sir Richard Moon (3rd Baronet Moon of Copsewood Grange) and Lady Gertrude Moon. Sir Moon (1901-1961) was the grandson of Sir Richard Moon (1st Baronet Moon of Copsewood Grange), the President of the London and North Western Railway Company. In 1951, Sir Richard Moon (3rd Baronet) unexpectedly succeeded to the title of Baronet following the death of a cousin in the United Kingdom that had no sons. He had been living in Canada since 1923 and had initially been a rancher in Western Canada before arriving in Toronto in the early years of World War 2. In Toronto, Sir Moon was a tailor involved in the management of a number of costume firms, including Malabar, the Keay Costume Company, and Robinson Plays and Costumes Ltd.  Sir Moon's succession to the baronetcy in 1951 was a subject of local fascination and was featured in a number of newspaper articles. Following Sir Moon's death in 1961, Lady Moon continued living at 33 Maitland Street until her own death in 1967.


Land Assembly and Sale (June 2022):

In September 2022, a redevelopment application was submitted for 33-37 Maitland Street for a 49-storey residential building. This application - as of September 2022 - proposes the demolition of 33 Maitland Street and the retention of neighbouring 37 Maitland Street. 



(Research by Adam Wynne)

• Architect - H.C. Roberts  <-- More buildings by this architect.