Some changes for Casa di Accordion Guy: the house has been sold, but it turns out the the people who bought it want to keep it as a rental property. Simply put, I don't have to move!

The room in my house that was available last summer is available again.  For simplicity's sake, I repeat last year's Room for Rent entry, along with the photos from the A very good house entry:


Would you like to live with two world-famous computer programmers? One of whom is one of Canada's best-known accordion players and writes one of Canada's Top ten blogs? The other being one of Canada's best-known anti-censorship software designers? Living in one of downtown Toronto's most televised houses? In an area giving you walking-and-biking distance access to some of Toronto's coolest neighbourhoods?

It's one of the nicest houses in a quiet residential neighbourhood tucked a mere couple of blocks away from the corner of Queen and Spadina. The facade is designated a historical landmark, but the interior is completely renovated, with hardwood floors and high ceilings in the common areas. There are two full bathrooms, with the downstairs one also being a laundry room with full-size washer and dryer. The kitchen has the full spread of stove, oven, microwave and dishwasher. There's a back deck for barbecues and a large tree for shade.

Want to go see the latest blockbuster flick? We're a five-minute walk from the downtown Paramount theatre. Indie film more your cup of tea? We're a five-minute walk from the Art Gallery of Ontario, and a quick bike ride away from the Cinecycle, Royal and Carlton cinemas. Like big bookstores? Chapters is close by. Like small ones? Pages is close by too. You can fall out of bed and land in Chinatown, Kensington Market or Queen Street West. Walk a litte farther, and you can hit College West, the dance club district, the financial district, or the Eaton Centre. We're a hop, skip and a jump away from the subway, and you can be on the Gardiner Expressway in minutes.

This is no bachelor cave; you will not find any milk-crate or cinder-block furniture here. I own the world's most comfortable couches, and they're pretty sharp-looking, too. There's a Parsons table in the dining room and some real, non-reproduced art on the walls. We have eschewed plain old Bell DSL and Rogers Cable modem service and gone for the gusto with high-speed business DSL and I've set up an 802.11g open wireless access point.


The living room, viewed from the front door, looking into the house.


The living room, viewed from the other side.


A close-up of the living room near the front of the house.


The kitchen, looking one way...


The kitchen, looking the other way.


The dining room, as viewed from one side...


...and the other.

We have a small bedroom that's becoming available shortly. Perhaps you're looking for a place in downtown Toronto. Perhaps this sort of place appeals to you.

The successful candidate will possess the following qualities:
  • Gainful employment or independent wealth. You must be able to cough up your share of the rent -- CDN$525 -- plus utilities -- I estimate CDN$100 - $150 a month -- and other expenses, which we will outline below.

  • A willingness to share in cooking and cleaning duties. We actually cook here. If your idea of dinner is microwaving burritos, you're not going to cut it here. We split the grocery bill evenly -- my guess is CDN$125 - $150 per person per month. We also keep a reasonably clean house, and we'd like you to help keep it that way.

  • You must act as if you live here. No more recluses. We've gone through two housemates who retreat to their room, emerging only to microwave burritos. I'm not saying that you have to be our bestest friend in the world, but you will have to socialize a little.

  • You will have to tolerate the occasional late-going party and a little noise. The record party for this house had 120 people in attendance; the last person left at 5:00 a.m.. You're also living with two music aficionados and four sound systems in the house. We're reasonable with the noise, but you're going to have to expect some.

  • You can smoke...outside.

  • Sorry, no cats. I'm allergic.
In return, you'll live in a pretty cool house with two pretty cool housemates who make nice dinners, go out on the town reasonably often, make scintillating conversation, have interesting guests and generally live pretty well.

Interested? Drop me a line.