60 Colborne Street, Kingston

This two-bed, one-bath semi-detached downtown century home, just two blocks from the main drag, is a smart way to get one foot (and two hands) firmly on the real estate ladder. You could lift the main floor carpets and I'm reasonably sure you'd uncover an attractive old softwood floor, same as you have up in the big front bedroom, where the pine planks glow as warmly as if melted down from decadent amounts of butter and Demerara. The back kitchen has a skylight, new flooring, and has just been repainted. There are sliding doors out to a deep, private garden with an interlocking path and patio, as well as an old, low deck. There's a good shed too. If it was mine, I'd settle in front of the gas fireplace with a stack of design mags and plot my next move, the subtle (or not-so) changes that would see the house transformed, like a splendid tree coming into bud. You could also do nothing, of course, and simply rest up, stay warm, but there is the feeling of a clean slate here, a chance to build on all that history.