High Park, Toronto

Dear House,

I’m writing to you because I miss you sometimes and I’m curious to know how you’re doing, what you look like now, and if you’ve ever noticed any ghosts.

I lived here from 1972 – 1986 with my parents (a firefighter and a belly dancer), younger brother and a variety of pets, from Lady the poodle to Max the Bull Terrier . Most of my dreams still take place within your walls. I’ve enclosed a picture of the house during the time we lived there.

I went to Keele St. Public School, both the new and old one. The old school, if I remember correctly, was built in 1914 and we moved into the new school in 1978 (I think). My grade 4 picture is in the cornerstone.

Here are a few things I remember best about our house. We had a gigantic raspberry patch in the lower backyard and before the townhouses separated us from the park, we used to climb over the fence and play in the ravine where I had my first kiss, and enjoyed my first smoke.

I had the middle bedroom upstairs and there was a time I was sure it was haunted.  I distinctly remember hearing hammering on my window-sill but there was no one there. My mother has more to say about the ghosts (see below), but she says she never felt threatened.

My brother had the back room, which used to be a kitchen and my parents had the front room.

I’d be grateful if you would reply with news and send me some digital pictures of what the house looks like now both inside and out if possible.

From my Mom:

HOUSE ANGEL

When we lived on Hillsview Avenue, in Toronto, back in the early 1970’s, we had a phenomenon occur.  Every so often about 9 o’clock at night, I’d see a small bright light in the shape of an orb, about 6 inches in diameter.

It would appear in the doorway between the hallway and the dining room.  The orb hovered about 5 feet above the floor.  It shone brightly and steadily without blinking or wavering.  The atmosphere would change with its arrival, and the feeling of comfort and protection was discernable, lasting only a few seconds.

It felt like a benevolent protector or guardian popping in to check on us and see to our wellbeing.  Then as quickly as it appeared it vanished.  I never felt afraid or nervous during those visits, which lasted for years.

One night a new babysitter saw it.  She thought it might have been the reflections of headlights from the street, as Hillsview formed a T with Mavety Street.  However, when the next car came she realized that light was in the wrong place.

When we came home she was quite nervous and told us of the sighting.  Unfortunately, she wasn’t reassured to know we saw it too and that it was a regular.

THE PARADE

Some years later, we started to notice a group of shadows walking from the basement door diagonally across the kitchen to the corner and then disappearing.  This went on for several months.  Just a walk past, like a portal to another place and time.  This also caused no alarm, but was not a special visit like the orb.

THE SCOTSMAN

For a few months in 1984, we saw a tall burly red haired man wearing a red plaid shirt and work clothes.  He stood in the doorway of the kitchen and the back room.  He just looked at us, said nothing and vanished.    There was no particular feeling associated with this vision other than he was just there and then not there.

Habitation: 1972 – 1986

House bought for $23,000

House sold for: $150,000