145 JAMES St

152 Years Ago Someone Pushed One Limestone Block Against Another And Quietly Began The Process Of Building 145 James St. The World Is Different Now, And So Is The House, But It Retains Its Modest, Low-To-The-Ground Charm And The Sense That Another Century And A Half Will See It Sitting Just As Proudly. There Are Three Of These Attached Cottages In A Row And 145 Is The Most Westerly Of Them. The Setting Sun Warms Its Flank Every Afternoon. For The Longest Time I Assumed Wrongly That Stables Had Been Converted To Living Quarters. Or That They Had Been A Barracks Of Some Sort Rather Than Smart Discreet Homes. Back Then This Was Partially Of Charlesville, A Spread Out Little Village Along The Banks Of The Cataraqui. Now, It's Firmly Inner Harbour, One Of Kingston's Best Neighbourhoods And 145 Is Just A Couple Of Blocks From Daughters General Store And The Elm Cafe. The Interior, While Showing Plenty Of The Limestone, And Sporting Pine Floors The Colour Of Good Toffee, Has Also Been Thoroughly Modernised. There Is An I-Beam The Colour Of A Meyer Lemon That Divides The Front Sitting Room From The Back Half, And Holds Everything In Place, And A Glass-Sided Stair Rail, Fixed At Its Bottom End To A Ballycanoe Newel Post That Looks Like Something Pinched From A Giant's Sewing Room. The Galley Kitchen Is Smart And Modern, With Laundry Tucked At One End And Extra Storage At The Other, And The Loft Makes For The Quietest Of Bedrooms, Like An Impressionist Nest Tucked Into The Eaves. The Yard Is Leafy And Private With A Shed For The Bikes. It's A Diminutive House That Doesn't Feel Small, And For The Single Professional Or In-Love Couple, It Really Is Picture Book Stuff.