I spent a delightful hour this morning with Charlie Pachter at his home and studio at 22 Grange. He showed me his paintings and other art works, we toured the house and went onto the rooftop patio - where we had a stunning view of the AGO, OCAD, ( and 9T6 beyond it! ), and the downtown skyline. We discussed art, mutual friends, the gallery scene, how the building was renovated by Teeple, the neighbourhood, you name it ...
22 Grange has won three design awards so far, including a 2007 OAA award of design excellence, which ranks it with fellow winners the Gardiner Museum, the Four Seasons Centre, Burlington's Discovery Landing, Young Centre for the Performing Arts, etc. as a must-see example of our best local design.
He showed me parts of the building that were modified from Teeple's original design, at Pachter's request.
The front of the site, where the new building is, was an empty lot when he bought it ( for a really good price ) about ten years ago. The back of the lot - which opens onto a laneway - was a former funeral home, which was renovated when the new front was added. He's got almost 6,000 square feet of space, I think.
There's an elevator just inside the front door, and his studio is sunken below ground level as you walk in, with a small oasis-like courtyard with a fountain in the middle of that level. The second and third floors of this new building are galleries/lounges, with a split-level between the second and third floors. His bedroom is on the third floor. There are paintings stored at the rear in the former funeral home area, and a large second floor lounge there too.
The neighbourhood is mostly Chinese owned. Many of the resident families moved west when the old Chinatown was demolished for City Hall in the early 1960's and settled there. Quite a lot of the houses on this street, and others next to it, are in poor repair - but the owners think they can make a fortune if they sell. Teeple's beautiful, practical, and contemporary artist's home/studio is well worth seeing if you're in the neighbourhood to visit the Alsop and Gehry buildings.
Great work.
