A couple is asking that the City of Toronto remove the heritage designation from their home because they say the original owner was racist, according to a news report.
Real estate records show that Dr. Arnold Mahesan, a fertility specialist originally from Sri Lanka, and his wife, former Real Housewives of Toronto actress Roxanne Earle, whose family originates from Pakistan, purchased a detached, 5,000+ square foot home in the Yonge and St. Clair area in the spring of 2022.
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The 2 1/2-storey home—built in 1906 and designed by notable Toronto architect Eden Smith—was originally owned and commissioned by Robert Stapleton Pitt Caldecott, who served as the president of the Toronto Board of Trade, and, according to one historian, may have also held restrictive views on immigration.
In 2018, the City of Toronto included the property on its Heritage Register. The Toronto Preservation Board noted at the time that the property was “…valued for its association with its original owner, Robert Stapleton Pitt Caldecott (1836-1907), who commissioned the house”, highlighting that he was a “highly regarded businessman” and was considered an expert in international trade.
“The property at 64 Woodlawn Avenue West is valued for its design as a fine representative example of an early 20th century house form building designed in the Period Revival style influenced by the Arts and Crafts Movement as interpreted by architect Eden Smith. It is distinguished by its asymmetrical plan with the projecting bays, the complicated roofline with the gables and the distinctive canted chimneys, and the decorative wood strapwork,” reads the city statement of significance, in part.
In January of this year, CBC reported that Mahesan and his partner applied to the Board to have the heritage designation repealed, noting that it was approved by the city in haste. The couple said that a closer look would have revealed that Caldecott had views that should have excluded the property from preservation.
“Stapleton Caldecott would’ve been appalled by us living in the house he commissioned,” Mahesan told the Board during a March 28 meeting. He added that he and his wife only discovered that their home was a designated heritage property last year when they started looking into modifying the house’s stairway from the sidewalk.
According to CBC, at last week’s meeting, the couple cited a report by University of Toronto lecturer Michael Akladios, which allegedly shows that Caldecott favoured newcomers assimilating into mainstream society.
“Contrary to the assertions in the Report of the Chief Planner and Executive Director, City Planning Division, the association with Robert Stapleton Pitt Caldecott may not suffice, given Caldecott’s restrictive views on immigration and position on education as a vehicle for assimilation to safeguard the character of the Dominion of Canada under the empire,” Akladios wrote in his report.
Still, Akladios confirmed as part of the news story that, while Caldecott believed immigrants should be assimilated into the mainstream society of the day, “I don’t call him a racist in my report. It’s perhaps their (the homeowners’) view … I don’t call him a racist.”
A city staff report to the Board concluded that the home’s designation has little to do with its association with Caldecott—the report says it is worth preserving due to its unique structural qualities and because it was designed by prominent Toronto architect Eden Smith, who is considered one of Toronto’s most influential architects of the late 19th and early 20th centuries.
The Board turned down the couple’s request to repeal the property’s heritage designation bylaw; however, they voted to remove all references to Caldecott from city documents that explain the house’s significance.
The decision won’t be final until it is approved by city council by the end of May, but the couple’s lawyer told CBC that they plan to fight on and use “every opportunity” they can to convince council to repeal the designation.
