ADDRESS: 118 Parkview Hills Crescent

NEIGHBOURHOOD: O’Connor-Parkview

AGENT: Raza Haider Naqi, Re/Max Vision Realty Inc., Brokerage.

PRICE: $1,749,000

THE PLACE: Designed by Toronto-based sustainable design firm Urbaneco, this open-concept home is the ultimate in eco-friendly modernism. Twelve-foot glass walls in the kitchen and living rooms retract to seamlessly integrate the interior living space with the professionally landscaped backyard, while the master bathroom overlooks the Don River ravine, creating the feeling of a pastoral oasis within the busy urban environment.

BRAGGING RIGHTS: Everything about this house is environmentally efficient. A grey-water system reuses shower water for toilet flushing (which can account for a whopping 27 per cent of a household’s water usage), and the steel-shingled roof is made of 56 per cent recycled materials. Heck, even the Bosch dishwasher is certified green friendly.

BIG SELLING POINT: The reclaimed staircase is made from a variety of different trees (pine, maple and walnut, to name a few), all felled by natural causes and repurposed by perennially cool furniture designers Urban Tree Salvage.

POSSIBLE DEAL BREAKER: If your friends are of the Hummer-driving variety (or, really, if they drive anything other than a bicycle or a Prius), they might be slightly intimidated by your tiny carbon footprint. Save them the embarrassment and invite some locavore vegans over instead.

BY THE NUMBERS:

• $1,749,000
• 12-foot by 24-foot glass walls
• 1 master bathroom overlooking a ravine
• 1 grey-water recycling system
• 1 EcoSmart ethanol-burning fireplace
• 1 steel roof with a 50-year warranty
• 1 custom kitchen with radiant heated floors
• 1 amazing staircase

(Image: JJ Thomson)

What it is: Bask-It-Style presented a media lounge in the Royal York’s Prime Minister’s suite to preview the swag it will be giving stars. Rather than make the celebs trudge all the way downtown (after all, that Avenue Road and Bloor construction makes travel a nightmare), Bask-It delivers pieces to the Hollywood bigwigs’ suites.

Who gets it: Such celebs as Megan Fox and Mickey Rourke have already been sent bags.

What they get: Like in many celeb gift bags, there are plenty of skin care products, like Cargo cosmetics, Emergen-C serum, Mistura Beauty 6-in-1 solution and $100 gift certificates to Toronto’s PureMed Spa. Anyone who couldn’t bring their own Harley Pasternak to the Great White North can work out with Farhan Dhalla’s Mind, Ball and Soul DVDs. And to cure the inescapable TIFF hunger (press junkets and screenings and parties don’t leave much time for eating), Old Dutch offers up a hearty bag of chips.

Sky’s the Limit

ADDRESS: Penthouse, 206 Bloor St. W.
NEIGHBOURHOOD: Yorkville
AGENT: Diane Stead, Sotheby’s International Realty Canada, Brokerage
PRICE: $12.8 million
THE PLACE: This unit is the kingpin of the 26 exclusive luxury suites that will sit atop MuseumHouse. The pre-built penthouse will occupy both the 18th and 19th floors,  providing 180-degree views of the city. Though all residents will have direct elevator access in their suites, the MuseumHouse team stresses that this building will be all about “community.” With just over two dozen units, occupants will have a hard time not getting to know their neighbours; we hear a mystery rock star, a bigwig athlete and a handful of financial giants are among them.
BRAGGING RIGHTS: The deep-pocketed buyer will receive his or her very own seven-foot-tall Auguste Rodin sculpture. Why? Because the builders thought such a special space should come with a little something extra.
BIG SELLING POINT: This is a DIY penthouse, except the “D” stands for “design,” not “do.” Since the building is still under construction, buyers have the opportunity to sit down with the architect, Sol Wassermuhl (Windsor Arms, Hazelton Hotel), and the interior design team from Powell and Bonnell to hash out their dream kitchen and bathroom, and decide how to maximize those 22-foot ceilings.
POSSIBLE DEAL BREAKER: Tick tock. Who wants to have to play the waiting game until the end of 2011 to move in after dropping 12.8 million big ones?

POSH BY THE NUMBERS:
• 5,618 square feet
• 1,200 square feet of terrace space
• 24-hour concierge
• 24-hour valet
• 1 fitness facility
• 1 private meeting and entertainment room
• 1 fully furnished guest suite
• 1 Rodin sculpture
• 1 built-in safe
• 1 direct elevator

(Renderings: courtesy of MuseumHouse)

Five off-the-radar summer destinations where you can eat, drink, fish, farm, bike or meditate to your heart’s content

Click here for our annual Good Stuff Cheap Guide >>

Alex MacDonald and Emma Rose, owners of Cabinet (Photo by Karon Liu)

Cabinet, a relative newcomer to the salon scene, has a slight speakeasy vibe about it. Open since early fall, it’s tucked away on the second floor of a century-old building, above the knick-knack haven Outer Layer, and has a turn-of-the-century look that could be mistaken for a Murdoch Mysteries set.

Named for the 17th-century French term for a place where people met to discuss the fine arts, Cabinet is unfussy in its decor, with dark wood floors, neutral walls and antique-looking furniture. The space, which was once a photo and film editing studio, also serves as a rotating gallery (the Toronto artist Steve Rose is currently featured). The large windows overlooking Queen Street make it a prime spot for people-watching.

Long-time friends Alex MacDonald and Emma Rose (they grew up in Renfrew County, just outside Ottawa, and now reside in Parkdale) realized the dream of opening their own place after working at the Lid Lounge on Church Street for eight years. And with a devout following from their previous salon, as well as a new clientele—from hipsters to business execs to entire families and offices—the two are focusing solely on tresses for now.

Cuts are $50 for men and women. “We schedule everyone for an hour, whether the client is a man or woman,” says MacDonald. “We’re not a factory where we’re going to rush through the cuts.” Rose adds, “Besides, men can have long hair and women can have short hair, so there is no reason why women should pay more.”

While they certainly cater to clients’ requests, their look is modern, youthful and sleek, and screams hip rather than money.

The Cabinet Salon, 577 Queen St. W., 2nd flr., 647-344-3132, thecabinetsalon.com.

Well manicured: Jason Culala and Noel Naguiat of Mankind (Photo by Karon Liu)

Wearing pink, shopping for clothes and getting highlights—the male sex has come a long way, but there are still a few milestones to hit, namely, having mani-pedis.

Noel Naguiat, who opened Mankind Grooming Studio for Men on Monday, remembers being laughed at when he went to a strip mall nail salon to have his nails cleaned. “It’s common for men to get manicures and pedicures in Europe and in parts of Asia, but here, a lot of guys feel embarrassed,” says Naguiat. “It shouldn’t be like that.” To create a masculine environment where men can get grooming advice without being gawked at, Naguiat, who is also an art director at an advertising agency, teamed up with his wife’s stylist, Jason Culala, to open Mankind.

The Spadina and Adelaide space is reminiscent of those old episodes of Home Improvement in which Tim Taylor would create the ultimate guy’s kitchen, bathroom and bedroom. The waiting area has a PlayStation 3 hooked up to a 65-inch LCD TV, and each grooming chair has its own TV—the client controls the channel. In the back, a giant moose head is perched above an old-school barber’s chair for pedicures. There is also a skin care bar stocked with Dermalogica products; it also serves as the manicure station (there was a queue when we arrived).

The salon offers such services as hairstyling, razor shaves, massages, waxing, facials and, yes, manicures and pedicures. The Alpha Male ($45) includes a shampoo, cut, scalp and hand massages and a hot towel face wrap that’s perfect for dry winter days. Waxing (including manscaping south of the border) ranges from $15 to $40, and a hot stone massage is $55. And for the high roller, there’s the $10,000 Man of the Year package, which offers unlimited services of any kind for 365 days. As for women accompanying their boyfriends and husbands, sorry, but this is a boys’ club.

Mankind Grooming Studio for Men, 477 Richmond St. W., Ste. 103, 416-551-1113, mankindgrooming.com.