Toronto's Fake Houses

Подписаться 10 тыс.

Просмотров 86 тыс.

50% 1

Toronto has a collection of fake houses scattered throughout the city, hiding in plain sight. Come along to find out what they are and why they're here!
00:00 Introduction
00:19 Leaside
01:28 The Danforth
02:00 Victoria Village
03:15 Brimley Road
05:39 Duncan Substation
05:54 The Danforth again
06:22 Glengrove Sub-station
07:43 Yonge & Eglinton
08:27 Final Stop
Geoff Marshall's New York fake house video (mentioned in my video): • New York's Fake House 🇺🇸
#Toronto #FakeHouses #UrbanHistory

Опубликовано:

14 июн 2024

Ссылка:

Скачать:

Готовим ссылку...

Добавить в:

Мой плейлист

Посмотреть позже

Комментарии : 176

@quadmods 14 дней назад

My friend worked at Toronto Hydro in the mid 90’s. He was tasked with assessing and preparing for sale dozens of “fake” houses and buildings. He had a 3 ring binder with every property they owned. Like a little info sheet for each one with black and white pictures and lot dimensions. When I would visit the binder was like a coffee table book I would browse with great interest. Cheers 👍

@TheTrolleyPole 5 месяцев назад

One day, by chance, the tall wooden doors of the Glengrove Sub-station were open so I could peek inside from the sidewalk. The interior looked like that of an old factory, that had only a partial roof.

@examplelife1567 20 дней назад

Substations were factories

@pineo81 24 дня назад

I left Nova Scotia in 2006 for Toronto, spent 10years in Edmonton. now back in the GTA. I still get so confused when my partner say the "Hydro bill" went up again. 18 years and I still think it means water! I don't recognise Toronto anymore with all those ugly condo buildings. Awesome video!

@zdrux 23 дня назад

I've never left Toronto and I still don't recognize it.

@123benny4 23 дня назад

I pass through Toronto on my way home and don't recognize it.

@Roddy556 21 день назад

I mean, you're not wrong.

@doeeyes2 21 день назад

@@zdrux same! Its so depressing.

@73cidalia 20 дней назад

Yeah. Short for hydroelectric because of the historical production of electricity using the power of Niagara Falls. I don't know if it's the same in Toronto, but in Hamilton our electric and water fees come on one bill.

@da_SpiffR Месяц назад

The castle-like building is spectacular! I'm loving (or at least liking) all your videos, and really appreciate the historical information.

@transportationland6395 11 месяцев назад

Amazing content. I love your content like this, along with the trail history content. Keep up the quality work!

@EyeGlassTrainofMind 7 месяцев назад

That's really interesting! Especially to hear about how as technology has evolved, these false houses are in less demand. I wonder what the newer solution(s) are? Also, nice connection between Sir Henry and potentially the Glengrove Sub-station.

@8252001Maverick 23 дня назад

OMG I did not know this. I sometimes pass that Victoria Park library not aware a fake house is just there. Fascinating 🧐

@samw5082 25 дней назад

Great stuff! Could listen to you nerd out about Toronto lore for hours!

@cherylmills150 18 дней назад

Excellent! Thank you for sharing your time, energy, and knowledge about "Fake Houses"!

@TechOttawa 22 дня назад

Very cool - thanks for sharing. I'll never forget stumbling on a bunch of these on a walk from Manhattan to Gowanus Brooklyn - my path followed the train route and I found several styles of 'fake house' along a very fascinating route in a place I had only read about before. Amazing!

@HannahandCailinLoesch 22 дня назад

I'm glad I came across this! It inspired a Google search and now I know that they are all over our city, NYC, too! Really interesting stuff. Thank you!!

@dariusanderton3760 23 дня назад

Yonge & Eglinton = Young & Eligible 🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣

@SaturnCanuck 9 дней назад

Great video sir. Living in Scarborough I am familiar with many of them and saw them many times. I recently found your channel and I have subscribed, and I also follow Geoff Marshall and Tim Traveler (who are friends BTW). I await more from you.

@notsmoothsteve 9 дней назад

Tim recently provided some music for one of Geoff's videos :-)

@nicolasarenas8988 21 день назад

Great Video! You might want to add some shots from a tripod or from a first person view of the shots you're showing us! Just something that might increase your views! Thanks for all the insightful information!

@AK.__ Месяц назад

Outstanding! Thank You! I knew that something "wrong" with the house on Yonge / Glengrove and thought that the plate is masking something else. The building on Eglinton / Duplex has very tall doors, like in MIB movie.

@Terry11111 21 день назад

That was pretty cool. Thanks for sharing 👍

@gh0stinthec1ty Месяц назад

Yonge and Eligible lol

@eattherich9215 6 дней назад

Those suburban sub-station fake houses are a neat solution. I particularly like the look of @1:41 because the house resembles those found in towns all over the UK where I live.

@justnski Месяц назад

There's a fake house just down the street from me on Royal York Road...good to know it still has some relatives

@sscbkr48 17 дней назад

That's nothing.. Vancouver is full of fake people. 😄

@bobbydigital8243 Месяц назад

I worked at a restaurant in Eglinton and Bathurst, behind my work was a neighborhood called Forrest hill, one of the most richest neighborhoods in the city with really big fancy houses. One day I decided to walk to work and walk back home after and I noticed a home just as nice as everyone else. but without curtains. and you could see a green box (the same ones you see outside) inside and bunch of transformers. That always was so strange to me until now, thank you.

@deedunk8383 Месяц назад

Great video! I learned something new. Thanks!

@mitchellyates9397 Месяц назад

There is also a fake Toronto Hydro house at 59 Dalegrove Crescent, just off of Martin Grove and Eglinton, in the neighborhood to the southwest of that intersection. It backs onto the hydro-cut running between the Richview transformer station and the AW Manby transmission station.

@Chrishm0 27 дней назад

the Glengrove station reminds me of Havergal college (Avenue Road)

@Bookmarkerer 22 дня назад

Interesting and entertaining, thanks and the best to you.

@ORGANIZEDCoNfUsioN 12 дней назад

Very cool Steve. Love those fake houses.

@jim8199 25 дней назад

Great content, I always want to know more about torontos past, especially anomalies around the city that I have wondered about. Mystery solved 👍

@SeemsLikeSomething 19 дней назад

I remember as a kid, growing up down in the Niagara region, my dad once pointed out a hydro house and ever since I find them really easy to spot because of the lack of any plants or gardens that require much upkeep, and there’s usually just one kind of window covering for every window.

@monicapushkin3274 5 месяцев назад

There is the house at the north entrance of Spadina Station on Spadina Road .... a real old Annex house which is now sort of a fake house.

@notsmoothsteve 5 месяцев назад

Keep your eyes on my channel in the coming months - that house will be making an appearance in a video, probably before spring!

@TheeSlickShady 23 дня назад

"This is Not the house you’re looking for" ... that got the Like👍🏼

@raisage Месяц назад

Thanks for another really interesting and enjoyable video!

@notsmoothsteve Месяц назад

You're welcome. Thank you for your support!

@raisage Месяц назад

@@notsmoothsteve Thanks for all your great informative videos!

@AlanKelly-nm9lx Месяц назад

I will leave this here also.. wow u know so little about Toronto but so much at the same time hahah meth labs and crack houses are always run by csis/rcmp, they cook all their meth at 105 Isabella st and at 888 Bloor st run the cocaine/ after hours drugs mostly in kennington Market and all conducted by csis agent Bain Coote who lives at 1032 Dovercourt RD! lol I think you need a real education on the streets my friend. Still do enjoy your video's tho.........

@campsitez2355 24 дня назад

1:52 what would be wrong with your neighbor turning their house into an air bnb exactly?

@demijour1234 17 дней назад

I live in TO and WOW!! did not even know this. LOL, learned something new. Thanks 🥰 So, there is no inside? If you peek inside the window what will you see?

@kikastra 17 дней назад

I used to be fascinated by these when I was a kid. The first one I remember seeing is the one at St. Clair and Pharmacy, which has been gone for awhile now.

@WilliamAshleyOnline 21 день назад

So much Toronto history --- did you ever do a video on the secret subway stations that are used by the military in Toronto, the cold war sites?

@MikeBaxterABC 18 дней назад

1:10 That would be so COOL to live next door! .. You could use the lawn for a soccer pitch, or pay toss across, I guess not archery practice, but you could set up any portable accuracy throw or pitching net! :), maybe even a picnic table?? Just having the big space with no neighbour there would be a belfit!! .. So cool!!

@WeeCarBoot 19 дней назад

Surprised you did not include the truly massive one on the east side of Carlaw just south of the railway bridge at Gerrard. It's also tastefully done, and resembles an old mill or warehouse, as do the other buildings (now condos) on that stretch of Carlaw.

@HavokBWR 22 дня назад

I lived behind one of these while growing up! The back of ours had a fence so you couldnt see any of the equipment. It was a nice little shortcut to get to the highschool/ mall, so wed occasionally see some of the local kids cutting though our yard to cut through the fake house.

@babbybailey2534 17 дней назад

I knew about these, but, didn't know the hydro company had them built. I thought they were already first established as residential family homes. Cool.

@wayfaringspacepoet Месяц назад

Sabrina Cruz and her colleagues at Answer in Progress also made a video exploring fake houses, around the same time you described

@TheeSlickShady 23 дня назад

Liked and subbed 🏆 Excellent video

@raydunn2582 27 дней назад

I was aware of these hidden electrical stations but didn't realize there were so many. The only one I know of is/was on Scarlet Rd. just S of Lawrence Ave.

@AllyBee-vi5gv 4 дня назад

My grandma had something like this close to where she lived. It looked like an ordinary house just a little bungalow. But I didn’t understand why it had strange fencing around it. It’s gone now it has since been torn down but I remember how much it looked like a house from the outside.

@Jake-co3wk 21 день назад

Very interesting. Thanks

@sangomoon5456 9 дней назад

I like this channel :)

@Youngsta0 19 дней назад

Hydro power is still significant for our grid, 25% might not seem like much. What I was told, they use the windmills to help pump the dams capacity up.

@RivieraUnivox 14 дней назад

In Victoria BC at the corner of Government and Bay is a cool Art Deco building that was once a hydro substation that was converted to office space in the 70s. 561 Worthington street in North Bay Ontario is a fake house substation.

@captainjoshuagleiberman2778 5 месяцев назад

My first encounter with a fake house was one on Spadina, jjust north of Forest Hill Village. A friend of mine lived just north of it and one day i was passing it and there were Toronto Hydro workers there and they left the door open, it was fascinating until they told me to leave.😂

@Aimaiai Месяц назад

In my neighbourhood in Rexdale at martin grove and west humber the substation house has a really flat, completely unused paved concrete backyard which ive used on numerous occasions to practice skateboarding and other extreme sports as I grew up lol

@Xathian 19 дней назад

The R. C. Harris Water Treatment Plant was the shady office building for Ezra in the movie Nightmare Alley

@IanPattisonOakville 23 дня назад

I'm surprised you didn't include the one on the west side of Bay just north of Nathan Phillips.

@bladder1010 Месяц назад

There's a really nice fake house at the corner of Kipling and Hunting Ridge in Etobicoke, right around the corner from where I grew up. We always wondered what it looked like inside.

@doeeyes2 21 день назад

Hey neighbour... or former neighbour 😉 ive lived in this area all my life.

@thetiredtourist3927 23 дня назад

The fake house at Brimley and Lawrence was across the road from Eastside Plaza (a favourite local hang out in the 60's and early 70's) and was dubbed "The Resort". People would chill on the front steps.

@mvd4436 25 дней назад

Cool video. The 1998 school science video music could be upgraded though

@spears104 4 месяца назад

Very interesting!

@DUDE72341 23 дня назад

awesome video thanks

@HeadlessChickenTO 12 дней назад

My maternal grandparent's home use to be across from a fairly large downtown substation on Huron st just south of College. The laneway right next to it is the home of the late former NDP leader Jack Layton and now mayor Olivia Chow. I use to play catch sometimes in the parking lot and lost a lot of balls that would roll under the big metal swinging doors, which probably housed the transformers.

@blacksoulll4327 7 дней назад

Thought you would do the ttc building around 460 Lansdowne Ave

@grahammonk8013 19 дней назад

At one time I worked on a fake church in London. Actually, it isn't fake, it was built as a church, but is now the vent for a London underground pressure relief tunnel.

@bodgerdavesumner 19 дней назад

There are many in Hamilton too. They are always a little posh looking & very well maintained. The ones that I know are detailed with beautiful stonework.

@catherineannelockman3805 15 дней назад

I lived in Hamilton most of my life...where?...

@bodgerdavesumner 14 дней назад

@@catherineannelockman3805 West side of Kenilworth near Maple. North side of Kin, west of Parkdale.

@McGoogger 15 дней назад

Love the hydro stations. There’s another fake house in forest hill just north of kilbarry on Spadina rd

@dallasgrful 25 дней назад

I lived next to an air ventilation building for CN that was disguised as a house for a rail track underground in Burnaby, BC.

@danvetor1365 18 дней назад

A lot of the substation houses have been converted. Especially in smaller cities.

@younghokim1994 23 дня назад

Wow, I never knew why electricity was called hydro in Ontario. TIL! And I totally know where the one torn down is, that's River and Oak area iirc.

@TheFirefox Месяц назад

There was a fake hydro house in East York that I always used to walk past. I think it was torn down and replaced with a real house about 6-7 years ago.

@vanessap7393 Месяц назад

I've seen fake houses with Bell logos as well. Also I swear I've seen a TTC-related fake house along Sheppard near Bessarion

@AK.__ Месяц назад

There is one fake-looking Bell house in the Yonge Eglinton, just bit west on Eglinton, before Redpath. It doesn't look like functional. The doors are too high, all very dusty.

@joywebster2678 20 дней назад

The " utility " fake house in Don mills I grew up by, had the electrical, but as time went by, Bell had a large silver access post? On its front lawn, and as a community we called it the utility house vs Hydro.

@86hardluck 21 день назад

I drove past most of those Brimley Road houses every day for 20 years.

@TheBurningSkull-ix1nm Месяц назад

i live near lawrence east and brimley and i have never thought about that weird looking house until now.

@malgorzataweglowski9704 6 дней назад

is there any fake houses where I come from in Etobicoke. The West Mall and Rathburn area.? I lived in one of those 2 big condominiums. very nice area...Im going to move back there some day.

@davidgray3294 20 дней назад

I am not sure if you missed one, I did some work in a building in where I think still considered Parkdale, beautiful old building, and felt odd when inside as it was pretty much empty except for a couple transformers - Toronto had some odd voltages earlier on in our life

@notsmoothsteve 19 дней назад

There are dozens of them scattered throughout the city - far too many to include in the video!

@RealMatureBianca 3 дня назад

The one in Parkdale is gorgeous! Every time I walk by I daydream about living in there lol

@m1t2a1 23 дня назад

There's one in my old neighbourhood at 46 Malamute in Agincourt. Hydro.

@konradpetz7317 15 дней назад

Hamilton has many of these as well. Some very nice Tudor style, some a little plain.

@72chargerse72 18 дней назад

Thanks that was interesting..

@terrystainton9105 19 дней назад

My grandad lived next door to one, corner of Bermuda and Prince Edward!

@Gritt982 20 дней назад

Toronto needs to do something about the traffic congestion and commute times. We have longer commute times than any city in North America and we're by far not the biggest. Plus they like to tear down beautiful old buildings to put up lame condos with no character. It's not a nice place to live or work near. It used to be but it's been circling the drain for the past 12 years or so.

@keithmanfredi 23 дня назад

I love these types of buildings. I've seen them all around Southern Ontario.

@FaTBoYx93 3 дня назад

Went to knob hill In the early 2000's that fake house has changed alot crazy to see now

@georgejones8784 21 день назад

All the fake hydro houses that I've known about are now real houses. Interesting, as I always wondered about leeching chemicals, but I suppose the "house" would have contained most of it, and the rest would have been removed when the dirt was removed for the basement & foundation.

@jlouutube65 25 дней назад

Interesting examples. We have a fake house covering up a pump station here in Bradford. I know I would not want to live next to a transformer that's for sure. ;)

@michaelarrowsmith6906 19 дней назад

They have these in Hamilton as well.

@michelleburstrom2548 18 дней назад

I remember some of these very well.

@MikeBaxterABC 18 дней назад

7:13 Part of my job years ago was to help set up Conventions at hotels, there was a flat rate $15 to have electrical power run to your booth (A simple 15AMP 120VAC Extension cord). .... I told one of the both owners, if you want Hydro in your both, it's $15 extra. He was from the south of USA and replied "... and 'Hydro" would be? ... LOL it's like we didn't speak the same language.

@HanTheProphet 17 дней назад

these videos are oddly entertaining having grown up in the GTA

@Youngsta0 19 дней назад

Bell also does this ( london, ON) and hydro does aswell

@kngus 22 дня назад

Loving that segway music.

@joywebster2678 20 дней назад

Had a fake house end of our street in DonMills, not as fancy frontage.

@michaelfilippi3276 День назад

do a video on the underground reservoir at Neilson and ellesmere! Try to get access inside!

@notsmoothsteve 21 час назад

In a notoriously uptight city like Toronto, where City Hall is the place fun goes to die, I doubt even a RU-vidr with 100x my following would get that sort of permission. But ... a video about Toronto's reservoirs in general has been on my ideas list for a while now - so no promises, but maybe I'll have something along those lines at some point.

@michaelfilippi3276 7 часов назад

@@notsmoothsteve some RU-vidr got access to the street car storage and repair facilities. I would assume those would be higher clearance. All I know its a big underground facility. On a big hill. I've always wanted to know what its about.

@TanyaKatherine 19 дней назад

You're brave too get out and walk around in scarborough. I wish I was that brave. I miss what scarborough was like with all the German and Greek oldie restaurants but yeah..I hear about too much crime now.

@andywood5699 5 месяцев назад

The ground under these houses may be contaminated.

@frankgiansante 23 дня назад

Hamilton ontario has them as well

@johnnyvegas2015 21 день назад

interesting...thanks

@martinemjt 21 день назад

the anti gentrifiers would freak if they knew. i think that s brilliant. thank you for the vid.

@examplelife1567 21 день назад

Obviously it's not a real house. It doesn't look like a house, it simply looks like a facility that's been designed to blend into the neighbourhood it was originally planned for.

@FeVaR Месяц назад

They are wrecking out 4kv transformer stations in favor of larger 28kv stations.

@linaburon5672 25 дней назад

I m living in Montreal I will never understand Toronto way of living !Bizarre

@chelseagirl278 23 дня назад

i lived there for 20 years tooo long and agree with you completely!

@dariusanderton3760 23 дня назад

but surely these fake houses are nicer to look at than having an ugly industrial building in the middle of a residential street

@unrulysue6927 23 дня назад

I've been to Montreal. The city is architecturally beautiful, but the people are really rude. I'm not even talking about how snotty some of them get if you speak English. I watched how they push and shove each other on the subway. Toronto has definitely changed since I worked there almost 40 years ago, but I still think the people are nicer.

@jpp7783 23 дня назад

They are old power stations. They are not a lifestyle, a “way of living”. In fact most people don’t know they’re there.

@SailorGreenTea 23 дня назад

Interesting

@l.5832 24 дня назад

Here in British Columbia, we don't have fake houses. We have the ugly industrial substations!

@Lucas-ho4ld 17 дней назад

You probably don't have to worry about these houses being bad neighbourhoods aside from them giving you tumours riddled with cancer.

@knux7 13 дней назад

tartaria built the hydroelectric stations at niagara falls. Real spill

@victoriagraham6470 22 дня назад

Holy Hell, I'm 61 and lived in Richmond Hill for over 40 years and today May 24, 2024 I learned something new. Just saw this clip and was awestruck about the fake houses.