Description:

23-27 Charles Street East is a church-form building located on the south side of Charles Street East approximately 85 meters east of Yonge Street in the Church-Wellesley Village neighbourhood of Toronto.  23-27 Charles Street East was designed in 1916 by the prominent Toronto architectural firm Eden Smith & Sons; formally dedicated on 18 February 1917; and was first used as Beulah Hall / Beulah Chapel, the home of the congregation of the Christian Unity Mission from 1917 until 1931/1932. Later uses include as the Central Gospel Hall (1931/1932-1992) and as Sanctuary Ministries of Toronto (1990/1992 to the present day). 


23-27 Charles Street East is the only surviving building in the Church-Wellesley Village* neighbourhood of Toronto which is known to have been designed by Eden Smith and/or Eden Smith & Sons. Other examples of Smith's work in the area — including residences along Jarvis Street and Wellesley Street — have all been demolished. 


While a number of prominent Toronto churches exist in the surrounding area, 23-27 Charles Street East is the only surviving church-form building within the boundaries of the Church-Wellesley Village* neighbourhood of Toronto. All other church-form buildings within the Church-Wellesley Village have been demolished. Demolished area churches include: the Alexander Street Baptist Church, which was located on the south side of Alexander Street between Church Street and Yonge Street; the Northern Congregational Church, which was located on the west side of Church Street between Alexander Street and Wood Street; and the Immanuel Baptist Church, which was located at the northwest corner of Jarvis Street and Wellesley Street East. These demolitions occurred during the 1950s and 1960s as properties were consolidated and intensified for high-rise redevelopments. 


23-27 Charles Street East is also an increasingly rare example of an early 20th century building situated on Charles Street East. Over 85% of Charles Street East's 19th century and early 20th century buildings and streetscapes were demolished from the mid-20th century onward during various redevelopments. 


* Defined as Charles Street East to the north; Jarvis Street to the East; Carlton Street to the south; and Yonge Street to the west. 



Architect - Eden Smith & Sons: 

As noted above, 23-27 Charles Street East was designed by the Toronto architectural firm Eden Smith & Sons in 1916. 23-27 Charles Street East is the only surviving building in the Church-Wellesley Village neighbourhood of Toronto which is known to have been designed by Eden Smith and/or Eden Smith & Sons. Other examples of Smith's work in the neighbourhood — including residential properties along Jarvis Street and Wellesley Street — have all been demolished. 


Geoffrey Simmins and Douglas Brown have provided the following biography of Eden Smith in The Canadian Encyclopedia: 


"Eden Smith, architect (born at Birmingham, England 20 June 1859; died at Guelph, Ontario 10 October 1949). 

Eden Smith was the first architect to introduce the principles of the Arts and Crafts movement to Canadian Architecture and a leading voice in the Architectural Eighteen Club, a group deeply committed to architecture as an art rather than as a legislated profession.


The son of a builder, while pursuing art and architectural studies in Birmingham, Smith became familiar with Arts and Crafts ideals by association with the William Morris circle. He immigrated to Canada with his young family in 1885 and following a brief and unsuccessful stint homesteading near Minnedosa, Man, moved to Toronto in 1887, where he worked for the architectural firm Strickland & Symons as a draftsman. Following completion of his apprenticeship, in 1891 he opened his own architectural office, where he designed a large number of houses, churches, and public buildings (after 1906 in partnerships with one or other of his two sons) before retiring in 1920.


An architect with an uncommon sensitivity to materials and siting, Smith's early buildings were typically constructed of brick and featured a rigorous yet pleasing sense of order in their design. Later he sometimes followed the lead of English Arts and Crafts architect and educator W. R. Lethaby in the use of more modern materials such as poured concrete and hollow clay tiles faced with roughcast. A meticulous and sure draftsman, Smith regarded drawings as simply a tool to communicate with builders. He ran a small office yet was able to turn out jobs to tender in as few as 10 days following approval of sketches by clients. He frequently had many jobs going simultaneously; in 1900, for example, the Canadian Architect and Builder devoted a two-page spread to houses he had recently designed.


Smith's houses were progressive and innovative in terms of plan. Although externally they often displayed the massing and general appearance of the English rural vernacular, earning them the nickname "English Cottage Style," internally they were highly original with free-flowing open plans, built-in cupboards, verandas, side entrances, and irregular central halls shaped by the size and optimal layout of the surrounding rooms. Where possible, houses were planned and oriented to take best advantage of the site and the natural light. Unlike many late 19th-century styles and post-World War I Tudor revivals, there was minimal use of picturesque detail. Rather, Smith followed the early Gothic revivalist A.W.N. Pugin and his followers within the Gothic Revival and the Arts and Crafts movement in espousing the "beauty of function," giving rise to houses that were designed from the inside out and generally asymmetrical, with window patterns that reflected the internal layout, and sometimes "hidden" entrances at the side facing a garden.


The Journal of the Royal Architectural Institute of Canada observed, in its 1950 obituary for Smith, that his houses were "freed from the current conventions of house planning and presented a 'new look'." Smith combined front and rear parlours into one large living room, eliminated fences, and sometimes moved his kitchens to the front of the house while moving living quarters to the rear, where they were often extended by means of a large terrace. Interior photographs often show simple Arts and Crafts-inspired detailing, such as wainscoting, dark beams and inglenooks. Some of his buildings were so unusual for their time that sightseeing buses were deliberately routed past them, especially the "turnaround houses" with the service quarters toward the street. This tendency toward originality and functionality is implied in the motto Smith adopted for himself: "Individuality in simplicity."


In addition to many single-family houses, in 1913 Smith designed two low-rise, low-cost apartment complexes: Spruce Court at Spruce and Sumach streets (with additions in 1926 by Mathers and Haldenby), and Riverdale Courts at Bain and Logan avenues (with additions in 1924 by F. H. Marani), both for the Toronto Housing Company. The latter were graced with courtyard plans and followed the Garden City precepts of Ebenezer Howard. Designed for lower-income people but built with the support of enlightened philanthropists, the Courts are considered Toronto's first experiment in social housing. Both complexes were later converted to co-operatives, and are now managed by boards of governors made up of elected residents.


Other notable buildings Smith designed in Toronto include numbers 5, 7, 16, and 49 Wychwood Park (he lived at 5 Wychwood from 1906 to 1919); St John the Evangelist Anglican Church (1892, now demolished); St Thomas Anglican Church (1892), known for its simple atmospheric interior and extensive brickwork; and the large stone Grace Church on the Hill (1912). Although the latter is late Gothic Revival, the rectory at 352 Russell Hill Road immediately to the north is pure Arts and Crafts. In 1912 he designed a house for Group of Seven painter Lawren Harris (18 Clarendon Avenue, recently restored); and in 1913 he designed the famous Studio Building commissioned by Lawren Harris and Dr. James McCallum, and used by future members of the Group of Seven. Smith also designed several public libraries in the Arts and Crafts manner, including the Wychwood, Beaches and High Park branches, all of which opened in 1916. They were the first libraries in Toronto designed to permit public access to the stacks.


The documented designs for which Smith was responsible accord him a role as one of the most original and artistic architects working in Toronto in the last decade of the 19th century and the first two decades of the 20th. Historically he should be seen as a reformer with a mission to improve house design in Ontario by introducing progressive British Arts and Crafts principles and original concepts to the Toronto architectural scene. In the process he developed a unique Arts and Crafts house especially suited to the particular environmental, climatic and social conditions of Toronto and southern Ontario - a direction that influenced domestic architecture in the province over the next quarter-century and provided some of the groundwork for later 20th-century housing design."


In 1906/1907, Harry Smith — the eldest son of Eden Smith — joined his father's architectural firm and it became known as Eden Smith and Son. In 1912, Ralph Smith — another son of Eden Smith — joined the firm and it became known as Eden Smith and Sons. Eden Smith retired from the firm in 1920. 



Beulah Hall (Christian Unity Mission): 

Beulah Hall was designed in 1916 and formally dedicated on 18 February 1917. Beulah Hall was home to the Christian Unity Mission congregation from 1917 until 1931/1932. During this period, the congregation's minister was Reverend James George Butland (1862-1938). Reverend Butland lived nearby at 82 Charles Street West. 


The Christian Unity Mission appears to have had affiliations and associations with a number of other Christian sects. The dedication ceremony of Beulah Hall involved four lectures by prominent officials, including: Reverend Butland of the Christian Unity Mission; Archdeacon Henry John Cody of the Anglican Church; Reverend Alexander B. Winchester of the Presbyterian Church; and Dr. John Hoskin of the University of Toronto's Board of Governors and Trustees. In September 1929, the Christian Unity Mission hosted a day of prayer to celebrate the Gospel which was attended by "virtually all [Christian] denominations" representing over 40 Toronto churches. 


Prior to the construction of 23-27 Charles Street East, Beulah Hall was based on Buchanan Street — a small east-west street formerly located near the southeast corner of College Street and Yonge Street. The Buchanan Street Beulah Hall was bought out by Eaton's during the early-to-mid 1910s and the new church on Charles Street East was subsequently gifted to the congregation by an anonymous benefactor — identified in newspapers only as a "prominent citizen" — with an estimated cost of $25 000.  


In 1921, the Christian Unity Mission purchased the Zion Congregational Church — located at the northwest corner of College Street and Elizabeth Street — for $100 000. The Zion Congregational Church then became the Zion Chapel of the Christian Unity Mission.  Reverend Butland provided services at the Zion Chapel alongside Beulah Hall. Of additional note is that by the late 1920s, Beulah Hall had become known as the Beulah Chapel. 
 

Alongside meetings of its congregation, Beulah Hall was used by other organizations, including the Children's Aid Society (which operated a shelter located next door) and the Central Presbyterian Women's Missionary Society (for their regular meetings). 


Around 1931/1932, the Beulah Hall / Beulah became the Central Gospel Hall. 

Central Gospel Hall:


Between 1931/1932 and 1992, 23-27 Charles Street East housed the Central Gospel Hall. 


The Central Gospel Hall may have had a connection to the Plymouth Brethren. The Plymouth Brethren are a non-conformist and non-denominational Christian movement that emerged from Anglicanism in Ireland during the 1820s. The Brethren Archives note that Central Gospel Hall was a name frequently associated with the churches and meeting houses of the Plymouth Brethren in North America. Of additional note is that another building — located at the corner of Brunswick Avenue and Sussex Avenue in Harbord Village — was also known as the Central Gospel Hall during the 1920s and 1930s. However, the relationship between these two buildings — including whether they were associated with the same congregation — requires further research to discern.  


In March 1941, the Central Gospel Hall hosted a "Bible truths" lecture by Alfred Mace. Alfred Mace (1854-1944) was a leading figure of the Plymouth Brethren. Later, in April 1942, the Central Gospel Hall hosted a Christian Convention which brought in special speakers from across Canada and the United States. 


During the 1980s and 1990s, the Central Gospel Hall provided community outreach through coffee houses, film screenings, and occasional lunches. In 1990, the congregation invited the newly formed Sanctuary Ministries of Toronto to share their building. By this point in time, the congregation of the Central Gospel Hall was dwindling. The congregation formally left 23-27 Charles Street East in 1992. 

 

Sanctuary Ministries of Toronto: 

Sanctuary Ministries of Toronto — often referred to as Sanctuary — is a Christian charity that was established in 1985 by the rhythm and blues band Red Rain. In 1990, the Central Gospel Hall invited Sanctuary to operate their outreach from 23-27 Charles Street East. Following the closure of the Central Gospel Hall in 1992, Sanctuary took over the building and subsequently purchased it in 1999. 


Sanctuary provides significant outreach services to the homeless and poor communities of Toronto. Charity Intelligence Canada notes that Sanctuary provides a "health clinic, art club, women’s group, worship service, two Alcoholics Anonymous meetings, and a community lunch & dinner [and that] staff are available to help people access welfare, housing, legal aid, counselling, and therapy or drug rehabilitation." Sanctuary also coordinates Switchback Cyclery, bicycle repair and retail shop which "hires people with limited education, work experience, or a criminal record who may have trouble finding a job in the traditional labour market."




(Research by Adam Wynne)

• Architect - Eden Smith  <-- More buildings by this architect.