Looking northwest towards the corner of Huron St and Sussex Ave, in the Huron Sussex neighbourhood near the University of Toronto.
The three-storey, heritage-designated building at the corner was constructed in the late 1880s for Thomas Charlton’s grocery store, at a cost of $3,000. It served as his store until approximately 1905. After that, it continued to function as various grocery stores and later as a butcher shop until 1959.
In the early 1960s, it became home to the Chelsea Shop, which sold antiques until it closed in approximately 1990. Over the years, it has also served residential purposes. The storefront still displays the signs “Chelsea Shop” and “Antiques.” In recent decades, the building has housed various businesses, including Westwood Creative Artists, which has since relocated.
Then and Now

SOURCE
- City of Toronto Heritage Register
- Heritage Toronto
- Ontario Heritage Trust
- The Toronto Mail Newspaper Archives: Aug 18, 1887, pg 6
- Photo: Denise Marie for TorontoJourney416
- Vintage Photo: City of Toronto Archives
- City of Toronto: Maps
- Toronto City Directory courtesy of Toronto Public Library
