Address: 609 Speed
Built: 1909
1912 householder: Charles Cousins, sash and door factory ownerThis house is gone! It was demolished in 2022 and in 2023-2024 a condominium block was built on the property. Here is a description of the house as it was in 2012, for the record:
Speed Avenue was named for Thomas Speed, a building contractor. When this colonial bungalow was built in 1909, Speed Avenue was a desirable residential street in an area known as Maywood. By 1914, a dozen family homes stood here. The street is lined with London plane trees, which must have been planted a century ago. The trees have attained a magnificent height but most of the homes they sheltered have disappeared. This house is the last Edwardian-era dwelling on the street.
In June 1911, when the 5th decennial census of Canada was taken, this was the home of Margaret McFarlane, a 29-year-old widow. She was born in New Brunswick of Irish descent. She shared the house with three lodgers: 26-year-old Mabel Brooks, who was single, and a married couple, Joseph and Ruby Clarkson. The lodgers had recently arrived from the United States. No occupations are recorded Mrs. McFarlane or her lodgers.
Charles Cousins, his brother Henry Cousins and sister Lucy Cousins lived here in 1912. Charles was co-owner of Cousins Brothers, a firm that manufactured doors, windows and decorative wood fittings. The Cousins Brothers mill was located on Garbally Street. Henry was a carpenter at the mill; Lucy worked as a “tailoress” for a shop on Broad Street
The Cousins family had many connections with the Burnside Gorge neighbourhood. They had previously lived at 632 Dunedin Street. Charles Cousins would later (1914) build a good-looking house at 3140 Balfour Avenue. At the time of her marriage in 1923, Lucy Cousins was living at 607 Manchester Road.
609 Speed Avenue was subsequently the home of Rupert Roney. He was manager of the Maywood Grocery store on the corner of Douglas Street and Tolmie Avenue. One of the proprietors of the store, James Murray, lived at 3172 Balfour Avenue.
This part of the Burnside Gorge neighbourhood is currently the subject of a re-zoning application. Oakcrest Park Estates, the owner of the properties at 605-629 Speed Avenue and 606-618 Frances Avenue, want to build two, eleven-storey towers here. The ground level would provide commercial and retail space, while the upper levels would be developed as residential units. The developer has pledged to preserve the London plane trees.
Note to preservationists. In October 2012, the property owner was amenable to moving, rather than demolishing, the house at 609 Speed Avenue. The cost of moving the structure would have to be paid by interested parties, but he offered to provide access to the property from Frances Avenue. In this way, the house could be moved without any physical obstructions. At the time, the house was still habitable. The house was later condemned and, after sitting empty for several years, was demolished in 2022.