Toronto’s tiny cube house gets six offers – and a buyer with two children

The tiny, towering box house on Coxwell Ave. has sold for “well over” the asking price of $349,000 — to a couple with two young children.

The couple, an architect and interior designer, beat out five other bidders with vision rather than money, by bringing their own architectural plans to the table, says listing realtor Jennifer Scaife.

They were “exceptionally passionate” about the house and presented expansion plans, including addition of a second pod, that were “well in line” with the grand plans the owner and designer, architect Rohan Walters had for the property when he first built it on a tight budget back in 2003, she added.

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The final price tag can’t be disclosed yet because the offer is conditional until next Friday, but it’s believed to have gone for over $400,000.

There was one “significantly higher” offer, but Walters “opted instead to follow his heart and welcome a young family. Children, and the hope for the future that they represent, are very important to him,” said Scaife.

“He wanted children to grow up and experience this.”

The crazy house on stilts is made up of three 16-by-16 foot floors of eco-friendly heated concrete slab. The 800 square foot detached house sits on a bowling-alley like 23 by 205 foot piece of property on busy Coxwell Ave.

The stilts minimize vibrations from passing streetcars and serve to lift the unusual home up to street level where it has delighted children, and perplexed their parents, for almost a decade.

The house has radiant heating which is not only easier on the environment but makes the place cheap to keep. Utilities average just $95 a month and taxes are just $1272, although those are expected to jump significantly, especially once the couple completes their expansion plans.

Some 75 people showed up at weekend open houses and only one asked: “How can people live like this?” said Scaife. “The rest ‘got’ the house.”

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It has no furnace, basement or closets — which would have made it somewhat of a fit for the highest bidder, a single person. By adding a second pod — pending city approval — it’s expected the buyers would add family friendly amenities, like a kitchen and closets. There is not a single one in the place.

And the current kitchen is just a counter and sink tucked under the stairs. There are no cupboards and the tenants who now live there are taking the only shelf with them.

“In the end, Rohan went with his heart, rather than cash.”