Feather Factory Lofts

History of Feather Factory Lofts

Benjamin F. Harvey commissioned the original three-storey factory at Dundas and Ritchie in 1910, and it was built in 1911 to designs by James Walker, a Toronto architect known for award-winning interior and graphic design. It is a textbook early-1900s factory: a solid timber frame, brick walls and big windows set in even rows.

The company that gave the lofts their name came later. The Canadian Feather and Mattress Company was making comforters and cushions on Spruce Street by 1906, and was still there in 1932; by 1939 it had become the Toronto Feather & Down Company, making comforters, spreads, pillows and cushions here. During its long stay two floors and a cornice were added to the 1922 plans of William F. Sparling, the architect of the Masonic Temple at Yonge and Davenport, which gave the building its Edwardian Classical top.

After the feather company left, the building was turned into offices in the early 1980s. Two attempts to sell it as lofts in 2007 and 2008 fell through; Plazacorp took over and started selling at the end of 2009. The brick only needed repointing, but every system inside was replaced. The 44 lofts, from about 430 to 1,070 square feet, keep the timber posts and beams, exposed brick and mullioned windows. It is one of the city's heritage-designated loft buildings, and there is no parking.