Adjusting to life in the ‘Crooked houses on Shaw Street’
Posted April 1, 2015 6:58 pm.
This article is more than 5 years old.
Built over what used to be Garrison Creek, two west-end homes have become known as the ‘crooked houses on Shaw Street’.
Generations of homeowners in the area have had to deal with their houses sinking.
Several homes in the area have been repaired while some homeowners said they will have to demolish their homes and rebuild.
“Before I moved in, the first owner fixed it a little bit but still…,” Dalip Singh, who lives in one of the crooked houses, told CityNews. “I adjusted everything when I moved in. I sometimes worry about next door, is it going to fall on me.”
Garrison Creek was once the western limit of the city and a founding landform of Toronto.
The creek was eventually covered over in the later half of the 1800’s and where these homes are now was once a large pit. The pit was apparently filled in with garbage and then simply covered over with top soil.
Despite the ground settling over the last century, it’s still left a lasting impression for those in the area.
The city said repairs to the homes are the financial responsibility of the homeowner.
