Secrets revealed

Jack Nichols, Hermit or Man of Mystery ?

From 1958 to 2008 very, very few people were invited to enter the studio at 395A Sackville. Jack came and went, neighbours arrived and moved away, time passed.

Did he have family? Were there any friends. Well, all of these questions were answered at a small memorial service held a the Nercopolis Chapel in Toronto on November 21, 2009.

A gathering of friends, professional contacts, and art lovers, came to pay their respects to Jack. The chapel was standing room only, on that lovely warm November day as the lawyer, chosen by Jack to at as his executor and trustee of his estate stepped forward to speak.

Paul Dineen explained how he had met and gradually come to know this distant neighbour. Other locals came forward to share moments of their contact with him. Several of his school chums for OCAD spoke. But, best of all, two old girlfriends , one in a wheel chair, took the podium to regal us with cheeky stories of dancing and kissing with Jack. Apparently he was quite a ladies man.

It was however a bigger surprise when a tall man, in his mid forties made his way forward and introduced himself as Mary McLean’s nephew. He explained how it had come as a great shock to his family when on her death bed his Aunt Mary had asked to see Jack Nichols….

A little history

Before we launch into the rest of my story, let me provide a little history of the subject, 395A Sackville.

Built  in the early 1870′s on the front of the lot on Sackville Street, Toronto. 395A was erected as a two story commercial building, in front of the original home,  we suppose as the business of the land owner.

We know that it was operated as a Butcher Shop, and that in it’s last years in that incarnation, eight children lived there with their mother. This family was the first one to move into the new and fabulous Regent Park in 1958.

The building was then purchased by Mr. Jack Nichols, a Canadian artist of some note at that time, who lived upstairs and used the main floor as his studio. Neighbours, who still live nearby tell me that Jack had an opportunity to buy a better house close by, but was drawn by the light  that bathes the building every day from the west. All for art.

Jack moved there in 1958 and stayed until he was no longer able to stay alone, in 2008. In all of those 50 years very, very few people were were  ever admitted into the sanctum of his studio.

This was a man who quietly observed and was deeply affected by those around him. As a mainly self-taught artist, in the early 1940′s his talent came to the attention of Douglas Duncan of Toronto’s Picture Loan Society. It was through the Picture Gallery exhibitions, which began in 1941 that Jack’s career was launched.

In Cabbagetown he was a familiar but mysterious character. he was friendly and yet intensely private and not everyone new of his extraordinary accomplishments. Until yesterday ….

I’m sorry but…

I had looked up the listing and emailed the agent, it was still not yet 8:00am.

When the phone rang I was expecting my sister, who often called early in the morning, but no, it was the agent.

“I’m sorry, but we are looking at offers for the house today at 2:30″, he explained, assuming that I would be easily discouraged . “Surely there is still time for me to see it.” I insisted. Reluctantly he agreed to meet me at 11:00. Apparently there is some sort of law that forces agents to show properties, even when they feel they have a sale in the bag. He thought when he woke up that morning that he had it all under control.

There was little time for strategizing. I called my sister. “I am sick” I declared “Real Estate fever” . “You are going to think I am crazy, but here is what I need to tell you. Quickly I described the property and it’s potential and she caught the bug. “I’m in, let’s do it”.

Now, I had a partner.

 

OMG It’s finally “For Sale”

My old friend and producing partner Thomas King has a saying he created for “The Dead Dog Cafe”, a very popular CBC Radio show,

“Stay Calm, Be Brave, and Wait for the Signs”.

Well, there it was, the For Sale sign that everyone in the neighbourhood had been waiting for for over 60 years (so I am told, I have only waited for 7 years). I was trying to stay calm.

Located prominently on Sackville Street in the heart of downtown Toronto, in a much coveted enclave called Cabbagetown, 395A Sackville Street, a tiny two story brick building, was one of the very few remaining structures that had remained untouched for the last , well 60 years apparently.

I had often passed it by while walking my little dog, and thought” wouldn’t it be cool to own that little building”.

Coffee in hand, doggie in tow, my pace sped up. “I have to call the agent” .

Now at 7:30 in the morning, perhaps an email would be the more prudent choice of communication, so off it went to Bosley Real Estate. Within minutes I had a reply.

And so It began.

Hello, Histerical ,Historians

I had never imagined that reviving the life of an old house would change my life.

This is the journey, taken almost by accident, and yet without the option of declining the experience.

Until June 2, 2009 I had filled my life with many interests and several careers. Work in film and television, a family business in hospitality, dabbling in Real Estate, dogs, horses, friends.

It all changed in the early morning hours of June 2, 2009, when returning from a quick run to the Jet Fuel Cafe on Parliament Street, I saw the sign. “For sale”.