11 Raglan Road Kingston, ON K7K 1K4

I wrote not too long ago that 11 Raglan Road is “an expertly renovated downtown townhouse all wrapped up in a fresh, dark chocolate siding. The best truffle in the box.” Something like that anyway, and the sentiment still rings true for me, that blazing, cherry-red door pulling the image tight. So if your aim is to buy one of the sweetest homes in the Inner Harbour neighbourhood, not even a ten-minute walk from the city’s core, well today is going to be a very good day for you. Spread over three floors (the third floor loft bedroom looks discreetly over the Cataraqui River) the house stacks a set of pale wood-accented spaces, each one striving to out-do the last. Knotty pine floors and stone counters, rough-hewn ceiling boards and whitewashed walls, subway tile and jazzy ceramics. Even a strip of exposed brick chimney at the top of the house. The stone surrounding the gas fireplace in the living room is like a cliff you find at the base of a waterfall. The renovations five years ago saw new floors laid down, as well as new insulation, and wiring, and plumbing, and sound-proofing, and windows. There are three bathrooms(!) and there is laundry upstairs, along with closet spaces deep enough a desk has been set into one and serves as a hideaway for top-secret calls. A shed at the back of the house makes for brilliant storage but if you removed it you’d be left with a parking spot accessible via a right-of-way. There’s a grassy, private garden tucked away back there too, with dappled shade and often a string of fairy lights.