Primrose at Cambridge

 If 72-74 Cambridge Street North seems to loom at an especially gangly angle, don't blame my camera-work. The house was built on a wedge-shaped foundation, giving it that "cyclopean" air.

The present siding is about ten years old and dates to a renovation that saw this historical corner store converted for residential use. Google Street View imagery from spring 2009 shows the Cambridge Food Mart when it still served the St. Vincent Hospital neighbourhood, clad in what may well have been the original, wooden siding, painted a cheery turquoise, with over a century of paint-jobs underneath.

The store appears on Goad's 1888 sheet #58, labeled "Groc." — a wooden (yellow) build, its wonky footprint evident, its corner mounted door proclaiming its function.

The City Directory for the same year lists the building's Cambridge Street address thus...