O'Keefe House

Last updated
O'Keefe House
O'Keefe House.JPG
O'Keefe House in 2005
O'Keefe House
General information
TypeResidential
Architectural style Victorian
Address137 Bond Street,
Toronto, Ontario,
M5B 1Y2
Coordinates 43°39′28″N79°22′43″W / 43.65778°N 79.37861°W / 43.65778; -79.37861
Named for Eugene O'Keefe
Completed1855
Renovated1889 (third storey addition)
Owner Toronto Metropolitan University
Technical details
Floor countThree

O'Keefe House is the former mansion of businessman Eugene O'Keefe, which served as a residence for Toronto Metropolitan University. It is located at 137 Bond Street in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. [1] The building was a student residence from 1964 to 2018, and had 33 residents on three floors. [2]

Contents

History

The land at what is today 137 Bond Street was sold to a dry goods importer by the name of William Mathers on April 14, 1855. Along with the land, Mathers received the not yet completed, golden-bricked house. The building would host its most prominent proprietor in 1879 when it was purchased by Eugene O'Keefe. He was attracted to the house at the corner of Bond and Gould because he could keep tabs on his neighbouring brewery and reside within a block of St. Michael's Cathedral. To accommodate his growing family, O'Keefe had the third floor added in 1889. O'Keefe lived at 137 Bond Street until his death on the night of September 30, 1913, in his second-floor bedroom. [3]

The house eventually was purchased by Longman's Publishing and converted to administrative space. The layout that can be found today can trace its origin to these offices. The Canadian Congress of Labour, the United Mine Workers and the Canadian Railroad Employees all utilized the Bond Street building at one point or another.

On March 6, 1963, S.E. Lyons and Son Realty Limited sent a letter to Ryerson principal Howard H. Kerr offering the premises at Bond and Gould for $85,000. Kerr struck a deal at $80,000, a stark contrast from its $6,000 value in 1880 or the $677,000 price-tag for a summer 2004 renovation. [3] In time for the fall semester of 1964, Ryerson opened “The Bond Street Annex” along with other new residencies on Church Street and Oakham House, then known as Kerr Hall. Time saw the demolition of the Church Street residencies, and Oakham House was shut down as a residence for lack of fire code compliance. From 1963 through to the construction of Pitman Hall in 1991, O’Keefe was Ryerson’s only official residence space. [3] 2013 marked the 50th anniversary of O'Keefe House as a Ryerson residence.

In 2018, with the opening of the new HOEM residence on Jarvis Street, Ryerson announced that the building would no longer house students from the 2018-19 academic year. Instead, the building will be used by the university for non-residential purposes. [2]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Burwash Hall</span> Residence hall in Ontario, Canada

Burwash Hall refers to both Burwash Dining Hall and Burwash Hall proper, the second oldest of the residence buildings at Victoria University in Toronto, Canada. Construction began in 1911 and was completed in 1913. It was named after Nathanael Burwash, president of Victoria from 1887 to 1912. The building is an extravagant Neo-Gothic work with turrets, gargoyles, and battlements. The architects were Messrs. Sproatt & Rolph.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Victoria University, Toronto</span> Constituent college of the University of Toronto, Canada

Victoria University is a federated university, which forms part of the wider University of Toronto. The school was founded in 1836 by the Wesleyan Methodist Church of Canada as a nonsectarian literary institution. From 1841 to 1890, Victoria operated as an independent degree-granting university, before federating with the University of Toronto in 1890, relocating from Cobourg to Toronto.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Innis College, Toronto</span> Constituent college of the University of Toronto

Innis College is one of the constituent colleges of the University of Toronto. It is one of the University of Toronto's smallest colleges in terms of size and the second smallest college in terms of population with approximately 2000 registered students. It is located in the campus' historic west end, directly north of Robarts Library, and is named after prominent University of Toronto political economist Harold Innis.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Centennial College</span> College in Toronto, Canada

Centennial College of Applied Arts and Technology is a diploma- and degree-granting college in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. It is the oldest publicly funded college in Ontario. Its campuses are situated on the east side of the city, particularly in Scarborough, with an aerospace centre at Downsview Park in North York.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sam the Record Man</span> Defunct Canadian record store chain

Sam the Record Man was a Canadian record store chain that, at one time, was Canada's largest music recording retailer. In 1982, its ads proclaimed that it had "140 locations, coast to coast".

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Leverett House</span> Residential House of Harvard College

Leverett House is one of twelve undergraduate residential Houses at Harvard University. It is situated along the north bank of the Charles River in Cambridge and consists of McKinlock Hall, constructed in 1925; two 12-story towers completed in 1960; and two floors of 20 DeWolfe Street, a building Leverett shares with two other houses at Harvard. It has the largest student population within the Harvard house system.

Carling O'Keefe was a brewing company in Canada that is now part of Molson Coors. The company's origins can be traced to Canadian Breweries, which bought the Carling Brewery in 1930 and the O'Keefe Brewery in 1934. Canadian Breweries purchased numerous other brewers – some to shut down, and some solely for their brands. In 1969, Canadian Breweries was acquired by a subsidiary of Rothmans, which renamed the company as Carling O'Keefe in 1973. The company was sold in 1987, then merged with Molson in 1989.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">New York University residence halls</span>

With 12,500 residents, New York University has the 7th largest university housing system in the United States, the largest among private schools.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Kerr Hall</span> University building

Kerr Hall is a series of four buildings in a square, surrounding Ryerson Community Park, on the campus of Toronto Metropolitan University in Toronto, Canada. Kerr Hall is on the site of the former Toronto Normal School. All but a portion of the Normal School's front façade was demolished in the late 1950s to enable the construction of:

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Toronto Normal School</span> Former teachers college in Toronto, Canada

The Toronto Normal School was a teachers college in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. Opened in 1847, the Normal School was located at Church and Gould streets in central Toronto, and was a predecessor to the current Ontario Institute for Studies in Education. The Royal Ontario Museum, the Ontario College of Art & Design and the Ontario Agricultural College all originated at the Normal School's campus and the provincial Department of Education was also located there. Officially named St. James Square, the school became known as "the cradle of Ontario's education system". The school's landmark Gothic-Romanesque building was designed by architects Thomas Ridout and Frederick William Cumberland in 1852. The landmark building was demolished in 1963, but architectural elements of the structure remain on the campus of Toronto Metropolitan University.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">University of California, Berkeley student housing</span>

Housing at the University of California, Berkeley, includes student housing facilities run by the office of Residential and Student Service Programs (RSSP). Housing is also offered by off-campus entities such as fraternities and sororities and the Berkeley Student Cooperative (BSC).

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Boston University Housing System</span> Housing system for Boston University

The Boston University housing system is the 2nd-largest of any private university in the United States, with 76% of the undergraduate population living on campus. On-campus housing at BU is an unusually diverse melange, ranging from individual 19th-century brownstone town houses and apartment buildings acquired by the school to large-scale high-rises built in the 60s and 2000s.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Chestnut Residence</span>

89 Chestnut Residence is a university residence operated by the University of Toronto, opposite the downtown Toronto DoubleTree hotel at 89 Chestnut Street. It was converted from the Colony Hotel in 2004 and turned into a student residence to accommodate the incoming double cohort in 2003 and 2004. It is located in downtown Toronto.

Eugene O'Keefe, baptized as Owen Keeffe, was an Irish-born Canadian businessman and philanthropist, well-known in the brewing industry for his signature brews. He incorporated the O'Keefe Brewery Company of Toronto Limited in 1891.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Oakham House</span>

Oakham House is a historic building in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. The house is located at the southwest corner of Gould and Church streets. It was designed by architect William Thomas as his own residence and office, and completed in 1848. Today, it is owned by Toronto Metropolitan University. The upper level consists of a cafe used by students and faculty, while the lower level is home to a student pub. The building is also used by the university to hold events and receptions.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Toronto Metropolitan University</span> Public university in Ontario, Canada

Toronto Metropolitan University is a public research university located in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. The university's core campus is situated within the Garden District, although it also operates facilities elsewhere in Toronto. The university operates seven academic divisions/faculties, the Faculty of Arts, the Faculty of Community Services, the Faculty of Engineering and Architectural Science, the Faculty of Science, The Creative School, the Lincoln Alexander School of Law, and the Ted Rogers School of Management. Many of these faculties are further organized into smaller departments and schools. The university also provides continuing education services through the G. Raymond Chang School of Continuing Education.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Housing at Georgetown University</span> Aspect of Georgetown University residential life

Housing at Georgetown University consists of 13 residence halls at the main campus and a law center campus. Housing on Georgetown's main campus is divided between "halls," usually more traditional dormitories, and "villages", usually less traditional apartment complexes. In addition, Georgetown operates many townhouses in the Georgetown neighborhood, usually for second, third, and fourth-year students.

The South Bond Building, or the former C.E. Goad Offices, is located at 105 Bond Street, Toronto, Ontario. It was built in 1912, and, starting in 1944, housed the Doubleday Canada publishing headquarters and was purchased by Ryerson University in 2006. After undergoing extensive renovations that kept the original facade, Ryerson opened the South Bond Building in the fall of 2007. In 2009, it was the first university in Ontario to be awarded a LEED Gold rating for energy efficiency.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">The Image Centre</span> Photography, art museum and education centre in Ontario, Canada

The Image Centre is an photography and art museum in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. The centre is a university museum operated by Toronto Metropolitan University (TMU), and is housed in a renovated and remodelled former warehouse building at Gould and Bond Streets on TMU's campus. The centre includes gallery, collections, teaching, research and exhibition spaces and shares the building with the School of Image Arts.

Bond Street is a short street in Toronto that runs from Gould Street to Queen Street East, which is home to some historic buildings and is associated with several historical figures of the city:

References

  1. "O'Keefe House". Housing & Residence Life, Ryerson University. Archived from the original on 21 October 2016 via Wayback Machine.
  2. 1 2 Aguilar, Bryann (2018-02-05). "Ryerson University to close O'Keefe house". The Toronto Star. ISSN   0319-0781 . Retrieved 2018-02-14.
  3. 1 2 3 "O'Keefe House - History". O'Keefe House Alumni Association. Archived from the original on 31 October 2014 via Wayback Machine.

Commons-logo.svg Media related to O'Keefe House at Wikimedia Commons