Funky U-Shaped Toronto House Once Toured by David Bowie Lists for C$14 Million

An award-winning architectural home in Toronto that once got the attention of David Bowie is on the market for nearly C$14 million (US$9.79 million) in one of Canada’s most exclusive neighborhoods.

After seeing a 2002 news story about the home’s design, by Toronto architects Shim-Sutcliffe, Bowie reached out to the firm in 2004 for a tour.

The owners, Toronto financial executive David Fleck and wife, Yvonne Domerchie-Fleck, rushed home from an Ottawa trip to meet the star and his wife, model Iman. The Flecks, who had commissioned the home in 2001, are also the sellers.

“I took Bowie and Iman around” the 7,500-square-foot house in Toronto’s exclusive Bridle Path neighborhood, David Fleck said. “He was one of those icons who was beyond fame, so he was easy to talk to and open-minded.”

According to Fleck, Bowie and Iman were scouting architects to build a summer home in Woodstock, New York, where they owned land.

“They were fascinated by the architects and the materials,” including wood and steel, Fleck said. The couple never followed through on the plan, however; Bowie died in 2016 at age 69.

The Flecks once shopped the Highland Crescent home around in 2012, asking C$6.85 million. More than a decade later, it just hit the market for C$13.99 million.

The Flecks have listed it again as they are downsizing now that their two children have grown up and moved out, according to co-listing agent Jimmy Molloy.

“The house won the Governor-General’s Medal in Architecture for 2004. Modern residential architecture can be cold, sterile, and austere.

Shim-Sutcliffe makes everything seem organic, and made the house seem like it’s part of its location,” said Molloy, an agent with Chestnut Park Real Estate Brokerage/Christie’s International Real Estate who is co-listing the home with Lindsay Van Wert.

The home’s exterior, built as a series of vertical panels, is clad in mahogany and Corten steel.

“It’s timeless, warm, and seems to have sprung out of nature―even using steel, the most manufactured of products,” Molloy said. “The house is more than 20 years old, and still looks new. If you visit in a hundred years, it won’t feel dated. Great architecture is about creating something timeless.”

Shim told the Globe and Mail in 2012 that steel “is interactive with the environment. … We think of the steel not as hard and cold, but warm and rich.”

The home has four bedrooms, six bathrooms, two garage spaces and parking for five cars. The sellers are “major art collectors in Toronto who curated and built this house with” the architects, Molloy said.

“We have such mixed feelings about selling the house,” David Fleck said. “It’s an entire environment. Howard [Sutcliffe] shifts ceiling heights, so there is movement in the house to create spaces that are unique. And almost every room looks out onto nature.”

To renovate the kitchen and bathrooms, the sellers retained Kelly Buffey of Toronto’s Akb Architects, “but in conjunction with Shim-Sutcliffe, Molloy said.

The kitchen features a Thermador induction cooktop, Wolf wall oven, Fisher & Paykel refrigerator, and Miele dishwasher.

Upstairs, a skylit landing connects three bedrooms, including a primary suite with a study, custom closet and a balcony overlooking the backyard pool.

The lower level features a media room, bedroom suite, second kitchen and gym. All rooms on the lower level open to a garden courtyard.

The U-shaped house surrounds a lap pool and lily pond. “The house is all about how it responds to its setting and to natural light, with walls of glass,” Molloy said.

Overlooking a ravine, the house also has views of the Rosedale Golf Club, which was founded in 1893.

According to Canadian data site Realosophy, the median sales price for the Bridle Path in February was C$16.2 million, based on three sales. The neighborhood’s highest-price listing is a 13-bedroom estate that’s on the market for C$23.98 million.

Neighbors in its affluent enclave north of downtown Toronto include Drake ; and residents have included Prince, Celine Dion, Elton John and Gordon Lightfoot.

Toronto’s downtown core is about 7 miles south of the neighborhood. Billy Bishop Toronto City Airport is about 9.5 miles south.

Australia’s housing debate is often dominated by affordability and supply, but a new collaboration between Brickworks and acclaimed architecture firm Kennedy Nolan argues the conversation should also focus on the quality and longevity of the homes being built.

The project, titled Our Next Neighbourhood, examines how suburban housing could evolve in response to shrinking block sizes, rising energy costs, increasing density and changing family structures.

Rather than proposing luxury dream homes, the initiative focuses on what its creators describe as achievable suburban housing models that are more flexible, sustainable, and better suited to modern Australian life.

Brickworks commissioned Kennedy Nolan to investigate what suburban housing might look like if “design, long-term liveability and enduring materials were placed at the centre of the conversation”.

The result is two housing concepts, known as the Street Terrace and Canopy Terrace, which explore higher-density living while maintaining access to green space, natural light and privacy.

The designs incorporate adaptable floorplans that can evolve as family needs change, along with passive design principles intended to reduce reliance on mechanical heating and cooling.

Brett Ward, General Manager of Marketing at Brickworks, said the company wanted to broaden the discussion around housing beyond simply increasing supply.

“Much of the housing conversation today is understandably focused on supply and affordability, but there is an equally important discussion to be had about the quality and longevity of the homes we build,” he said.

“We wanted to explore how thoughtful design, combined with durable, resilient materials, could create homes that not only function well today, but continue to support Australian families and communities long into the future.”

Kennedy Nolan said the project was partly inspired by concerns that contemporary housing often struggles to adapt to changing household structures and environmental pressures.

The architects said innovation in suburban housing was “essential” to address changing family groupings, energy use, urban heat island effects and growing disconnection from place.

According to the design team, the concepts draw on lessons from some of Australia’s most influential housing projects while seeking to create neighbourhoods with stronger links to landscape, community and local identity.

Rachel Nolan, founder of Kennedy Nolan, said the practice saw an opportunity to reimagine suburban housing as something “more connected to our climate, our landscape, our communities and our Australian identity”.

The project comes as policymakers, developers and planners continue searching for ways to deliver more housing without sacrificing liveability, neighbourhood character or long-term sustainability.

Funky U-Shaped Toronto House Once Toured by David Bowie Lists for C$14 Million

The late rock star and his wife, model Iman, visited the house after seeing a news story about its unusual design by local architects Shim-Sutcliffe.

Brickworks has enlisted acclaimed architecture studio Kennedy Nolan to explore how homes could become more adaptable, energy-efficient and connected to community.