Trips Places Foods Stories Newsletters

Take your next trip with Atlas Obscura!

Our small-group adventures are inspired by our Atlas of the world's most fascinating places, the stories behind them, and the people who bring them to life.

Visit Adventures
Trips Highlight
Slovenia mushroom foraging
Slovenia • 6 days, 5 nights
Forest to Table in Alpine Slovenia
from
Central Asia yurt night stars
Uzbekistan • 15 days, 14 nights
Central Asia Road Trip: Backroads & Bazaars
from
View all trips
Top Destinations
Latest Places
Most Popular Places Random Place Lists Itineraries
Add a Place
Download the App
Top Destinations
View All Destinations »

Countries

  • Australia
  • Canada
  • China
  • France
  • Germany
  • India
  • Italy
  • Japan

Cities

  • Amsterdam
  • Barcelona
  • Beijing
  • Berlin
  • Boston
  • Budapest
  • Chicago
  • London
  • Los Angeles
  • Mexico City
  • Montreal
  • Moscow
  • New Orleans
  • New York City
  • Paris
  • Philadelphia
  • Rome
  • San Francisco
  • Seattle
  • Stockholm
  • Tokyo
  • Toronto
  • Vienna
  • Washington, D.C.
Latest Places
View All Places »
Hibiya Godzilla Square
Three Mile Island nuclear power plant.
Three Mile Island Historical Marker
Historical Marker.
Naval Air Station Richmond
Today, all that’s left of the mishap-plagued dam is its powerhouse.
Historic Hales Bar Dam Powerhouse
Latest Places to Eat & Drink
View All Places to Eat »
Cacio e pepe lasagna combines two classics.
C'è pasta... E pasta!
Spaghetto taratatà is named for the sound of rattling sabers.
Giano Restaurant
The gnocchi here get blanketed in a sugo with braised oxtail.
Cesare al Pellegrino
Romans insist you should feel the cracked peppercorns and cheese grains on your tongue.
Flavio al Velavevodetto
Tripe is fried to a crisp.
L’Osteria della Trippa
Recent Stories
All Stories Video Podcast
Most Recent Stories
View All Stories »
The first photo of the “woolly devil” made a stir among botanists when Deb Manley uploaded it to iNaturalist in March 2024.
How the Woolly Devil, Member of a New Plant Genus, Was Discovered on a Hike in Big Bend
about 13 hours ago
You don’t need to go to Turkey to see hundreds of hot air balloons rising.
Dear Atlas: Where Can I Find the Most Unusual Festivals in the U.S.?
1 day ago
Located in Indianola, Mississippi, Club Ebony hosted performances by blues legends like B.B. King.
How Club Ebony Helped Keep the Blues Alive in the Jim Crow South
1 day ago
Spot Gentoos and other species of penguins waddling, swimming, and diving from icebergs.
Adventure at Sea: An Explorer’s Guide to Antarctica
2 days ago

No search results found for
“”

Make sure words are spelled correctly.

Try searching for a travel destination.

Places near me Random place

Popular Destinations

  • Paris
  • London
  • New York
  • Berlin
  • Rome
  • Los Angeles
Trips Places Foods Stories Newsletters
Sign In Join
Places near me Random place
All Canada Ontario Toronto Toronto's Half House

Toronto's Half House

Willy Wonka would love this weird half-a-home.

Toronto, Ontario

Added By
Brendan Kergin
Email
Been Here
Want to go
Added to list
front 3/4 view from the sidewalk   teddrake / Atlas Obscura User
front 3/4 view from the sidewalk   teddrake / Atlas Obscura User
  knightracer / Atlas Obscura User
  knightracer / Atlas Obscura User
  mattfinnigan303 / Atlas Obscura User
Photo taken July 2019   Gavin / Atlas Obscura User
Toronto’s Half House   icatsstaci / Atlas Obscura User
Toronto’s Half House, Summer 2019   newexperienceaddict / Atlas Obscura User
This house has been through a lot.   © 2016 Google
Half house   © 2016 Google
Been Here
Want to go
Added to list

About

No, this isn't a trick of Photoshop. Nor is it the world's nastiest spite house; rather, this bonafide half-home shares more with its nail house brethren after witnessing a history of blight and zoning changes.

The lone row home at 54 1/2 Saint Patrick Street dates back to Toronto's slums in the late 19th century. Built somewhere between 1890 and 1893, this bay-and-gable relic from a bygone era once was a one of six identical, structurally intertwined homes on what was then known as Dummer Street. 

Time passed, the street names changed, and a particularly sharky land holdings company began buying up property throughout the neighborhood in the middle of the 20th century. Eventually, the owners of the row houses caved, but not as a unit. Each half of the row houses' wholes were torn down at an excruciatingly slow pace… until 54 1/2 remained the only one left. 

This begs the question: how does half a building cleave away so cleanly only to leave the rest of it standing?

Very carefully. In a miraculous feat performed with clumsy and powerful machinery, a demolition crew managed to tear down 54 1/2's neighbor to the north with such precision as to not disturb any of the original facade on the building that was to remain. The white, exterior wall had once been a load-bearing wall hidden internally to divide the neighbors' bedrooms and living rooms from each other. One slip with an excavator and the half-house would have come tumbling down. 

As of 2013, the house was reported to be privately owned and vacant. As it begins to show signs of wear, its status as last bastion of the neighborhood's less pleasant days are beginning to show on its craggy, half-face. Then again, if any house has earned its character, it's this one. 

Related Tags

Architectural Oddities Spite House Fires Architecture

Community Contributors

Added By

Kergin

Edited By

littlebrumble, Martin, tmulrooney, teddrake...

  • littlebrumble
  • Martin
  • tmulrooney
  • teddrake
  • Meg
  • icatsstaci
  • Gavin
  • newexperienceaddict
  • mattfinnigan303
  • knightracer

Published

August 5, 2016

Edit this listing

Make an Edit
Add Photos
Sources
  • http://www.blogto.com/city/2013/04/where_did_the_rest_of_this_house_on_st_patrick_street_go/
Toronto's Half House
54 Saint Patrick Street
Toronto, Ontario, M5T 1V1
Canada
43.651904, -79.389228
Get Directions

Nearby Places

Rosalie Sharp Centre for Design

Toronto, Ontario

miles away

Toronto Neighbourhood Watch Signs

Toronto, Ontario

miles away

Winter Garden Theatre

Toronto, Ontario

miles away

Explore the Destination Guide

Photo of Toronto

Toronto

Ontario

Places 55
Stories 7

Nearby Places

Rosalie Sharp Centre for Design

Toronto, Ontario

miles away

Toronto Neighbourhood Watch Signs

Toronto, Ontario

miles away

Winter Garden Theatre

Toronto, Ontario

miles away

Explore the Destination Guide

Photo of Toronto

Toronto

Ontario

Places 55
Stories 7

Related Places

  • New Milford, Connecticut

    Gaylordsville Spite House

    The best revenge is a five-tiered layer cake of a dwelling.

  • Seattle, Washington

    Montlake Spite House

    This tiny home built on revenge appears to be scarcely wider than a Volkswagen.

  • The Hollensbury Spite House

    Alexandria, Virginia

    Hollensbury Spite House

    The narrowest house in America is seven feet of pure spite.

  •  Al Ba’sa, or The Grudge, Beirut’s thinnest building.

    Beirut, Lebanon

    The Grudge (Al Ba’sa)

    Beirut's thinnest building was the result of feuding brothers.

  • Alameda spite house at Broadway & Crist St.

    Alameda, California

    Alameda Spite House

    This (occupied) house is 10 feet wide and full of spite.

  • Da Nang, Vietnam

    Fire-Breathing Dragon Bridge

    This bridge is embedded with a giant steel dragon that breathes fire from its mouth.

  • Commemorative plaque

    San Francisco, California

    Hotaling Whiskey Warehouse

    The largest whiskey stash on the West Coast survived the 1906 fires--but not without heroic effort.

  • A view down to the Temagami townsite.

    Temagami, Ontario

    Temagami Fire Tower

    Stunning views over Ontario's old-growth pine forests.

Aerial image of Vietnam, displaying the picturesque rice terraces, characterized by their layered, verdant fields.
Atlas Obscura Membership

Become an Atlas Obscura Member


Join our community of curious explorers.

Become a Member

Get Our Email Newsletter

Follow Us

Facebook YouTube TikTok Instagram Pinterest RSS Feed

Get the app

Download the App
Download on the Apple App Store Get it on Google Play
  • All Places
  • Latest Places
  • Most Popular
  • Places to Eat
  • Random
  • Nearby
  • Add a Place
  • Stories
  • Food & Drink
  • Itineraries
  • Lists
  • Video
  • Podcast
  • Newsletters
  • All Trips
  • Family Trip
  • Food & Drink
  • History & Culture
  • Wildlife & Nature
  • FAQ
  • Membership
  • Feedback & Ideas
  • Community Guidelines
  • Product Blog
  • Unique Gifts
  • Work With Us
  • About
  • FAQ
  • Advertise With Us
  • Advertising Guidelines
  • Privacy Policy
  • Cookie Policy
  • Terms of Use
Atlas Obscura

© 2025 Atlas Obscura. All Rights Reserved.