The Transformer Next Door
Toronto’s Fake Houses
TL;DR
→ In Toronto, numerous electrical sub-stations are hidden behind the facade of regular neighbourhood homes
→ This trend is dying out, but several of these homes are still humming away next door
“One of these things is not like the other.” It’s a Sesame Street jingle we like to sarcastically sing to poke fun at the obvious failed master of disguise.
Well, today’s post is all about these intruders amongst our ranks that we have failed to notice! Yes, today I’ll be exposing the secret (not really a secret, just head to Google) of Toronto’s electrical substation houses. What’s the big deal you ask, aren’t these just normal houses? Well, sit tight and wait for the big aerial reveal. They’re houses that have stood the test of time, most of the time only have three walls, no roofs, and are prone to exploding. Yep!
Before we dive too deep into the article let me just outline what the heck a substation is anyways. An electrical substation is a type of transformer that will convert high voltage electricity into the lower voltage electricity me, you, and everyone else can use.
Done! Simple as that. Because they deal with high amounts of energy they can be quite dangerous (some explode from time to time although this is exceedingly rare). They also tend to hum at a low frequency. So not necessarily noisy but definitely “alive.”
Sadly, Toronto Hydro is no longer hiding electrical substations in fake houses. Instead, the houses are slowly being decommissioned as part of modernization efforts. Technology has changed and the substations hidden inside these fake houses are far from cutting-edge. Plus maybe the price of Toronto real estate has something to do with it… hmm.
Anyways, what’s cool about some of these houses is that they record the transitions in architectural styles. You’ll see transformer homes from all eras, ranging from the 1920s to the 1970s.
The briefest of histories
So the history of these substations goes back a while. Electricity first came to Toronto back in the late 1880s. For a few years independent private companies supplied electricity to citizens but by 1911, Toronto Hydro was established as the municipal electricity company.
The earlier substations that were located along the streets were built up as impressive structures. To prevent them being eye sores, lots of time and effort went into disguising the industrial equipment. One of the earliest still stands today. It’s located in downtown Toronto at 29 Nelson Street. I’ve included its image in the carousel above. Although not a house, it’s built as a type of Victorian warehouse or perhaps an unassuming office building. Not sure how many people it fooled but it certainly helped electrical equipment better blend into its surroundings.
The craziest, most over-the-top substation has to be “the castle.” Formally called Glengrove Substation, it was built in 1931 and resembles an ivy-covered private school complete with oak doors, and a rough cut stone facade. This was the last of the pre-depression extravagance and Toronto Hydro’s buildings soon became more demure in appearance. The structures’ designs morphed with the times and remained highly convincing (at least when they were first built and surrounded by other brand new structures). Apparently, some were so convincing that burglars even tried to break into some. I even found out that some (if not all) of the houses have a working washroom for visiting Toronto Hydro employees.
The good part (of this post)
Here’s the best part - the photographs of the substations! I slaved away for the better part of a few evenings to get this to you. Cause it all started when I found a 1999 list of all of Toronto Hydro’s properties and individually Google Streetview searched each of the 322 addresses to identify which of the properties were actually these residential transformer houses. (There’s a map for you to explore with their locations plotted out located at the end of this post). It took 3 hours of steady copy-paste-searching to identify what I believe to be all ~90 to 96 transformer homes (down from 150). It’s really a mystery as to how many of these house remain. Some articles cite 90, others say 200, and others 75… so I found 90 (give or take a few). Some of them are hard to tell whether they should be included as transformer houses as they’re more like transformer apartment complexes. Either way, if they didn’t look like a pile of electrical equipment or like a regular utility shed, I added it to the list.
The good
The bad
The converted substations
Anyways, I loved researching these hidden structures as I found it telling just how much, or how little, is required to pass off a building as inconspicuous to a passerby. How many have noticed something a little off about the house down the block? If it has real windows, does it help? Is the trick having blinds in the windows? Does it really matter?!
It makes you wonder just how much you can get away with. For example, the parallel can be drawn to automatons and artificial intelligence: just how much detail is required for us to accept them as part of our lives, not even noticing its existence…?
Try your hand at spotting the houses on the street
Here are a few tips to spotting a transformer house:
There are never any cars in the driveway, sometimes there’s a chain across the driveway
There is always a placard on the door warning of danger
The yard might be slightly unkempt, although most seem to be fairly well maintained
There might be a slight hum
Security cameras
The house might look out of place or dated compared to its new or renovated neighbours. They look a bit cold and utilitarian, with few ornaments.
Many tend to have bus stops in front of them
Spoiler: if this post has piqued your fancy, look out for some upcoming posts on Paris and London’s fake facades used to conceal underground railway ventilation shafts.