Probably the most featured house in Rosedale, anyone who walks past Thom House, probably can’t help but stop and admire its intricate details.

Such is the sheer number of details; one can’t help but notice something new every time.

Behind the Victorian wrought iron front fence, the front door is decorated with circular stained glass topped with elaborate yellow / red masonry contrasting, almost artistic brickwork. For the chimney, almost every layer of brick is a different color.

On top is a black / red patterned slate roof, with a gothic revival style decorative bracket below it. Behind the low-pitched roof, there is a watch tower, with even more decorative wrought iron.

If you walk past Thoms House slowly enough, you may catch a glimpse of the “Coach House” behind it.

When Thom House was built, there were only 8 houses in the whole of Rosedale. It was a time when the real “OG” Rosedale houses (or Annex Houses near Admiral Road) were built in pairs, the main house and the coach house.

Before the era of cars, horses and carriages were such an intricate part of daily life. The coach house was not just your everyday “garage”, it was quite often built elaborately, to mirror the main house.

In this case, it shares the circular stain glass, the gable trim, the black / red patterned slate roof and dark green shingles.

At one point, Canada Post used the coach house to switch horses for its mail carriages.

54 South Drive, Rosedale

YouTube video showing the interior of 54 South Drive (From Heaps Estrin Real Estate)