Gooderham Building, Toronto

Among the many places worth visiting in the Saint Lawrence neighborhood, especially for an architecture buff, is the Gooderham Building. Hardly five stories tall, wedged in a triangular intersection between Front and Wellington streets, this structure is one of the most photographed sights in the city. The house was built in 1892, ten years before its famous kin, the Fuller Building in New York City, and as such, represents an early example of the flatiron form of architecture.

The previous building on this site was shorter but of the same shape and was called the Coffin Block. The current vermilion red-brick edifice, with tinges of Romanesque styling, was constructed for distiller George Gooderham and served as the office of the Gooderham & Worts distillery until 1952. The Gooderham family sold the property in 1957, following which it changed hands several times. In 1975, the building was designated a historic site under the Ontario Heritage Act.

Besides its shape, the Gooderham Building is well-known for the mural on its back wall. The Flatiron Mural – created by renowned Canadian artist Derek Michael Besant – uses a trompe-l'œil effect to make the wall appear to have more windows than it does, as well as to give it a more mobile effect with the help of a picture of the Perkins Building, which is located directly across the street, depicted as if loosely 'tacked' down to the wall, with some of its edges 'fluttering' away.

Right behind the Gooderham Building is a tree-lined spot called Berczy Park. This park, housing a sizeable three-tier fountain fitted with 27 cast-iron dogs spouting water, a cast-iron cat, and crowned with a bone, was completed in 2017. The drinking trough for dogs has made this fountain a popular destination, particularly for dog lovers.