O’Keefe

O’KEEFE HOUSE (OKF)

Beer, university students and their well-being. These are connected to the history and the future of O’Keefe House. The heritage building is located at 137 Bond Street, at the corner of Gould Street, and is named after Eugene O’Keefe of O’Keefe Brewery. However, O’Keefe was not the original owner of the property which only became known as O’Keefe House in 1978: it was previously called the Bond House and before that, the Bond Street Annex. The building was originally constructed as a single-family residence for William and Agnes Mathers in 1855. O’Keefe bought it in 1879 because it was around the corner from both his newly acquired brewery at Gould and Victoria Streets and his daily worshiping site of St. Michael’s Cathedral. In the 1880s, O’Keefe oversaw a series of renovations integrating the then new and very popular Queen Anne architectural style with the original Georgian design of the house, notably adding a third floor with turrets. O’Keefe’s architectural additions are the reason the City of Toronto designated the house a cultural heritage property in 1984.

The house was the O’Keefe family residence from 1879 to 1938. The stately mansion was reflective of Eugene O’Keefe’s wealth, business acumen, well-healed tastes and hard work. His family were impoverished Irish Catholics who immigrated to Upper Canada in 1832 when he was 5 years old. At some point, his name was changed from Owen Keefe to Eugene O’Keefe. The family moved to Muddy York (now Toronto) in 1834 where O’Keefe would spend the rest of his life. Despite the oppressive attitudes towards Catholics in the overwhelmingly Protestant Toronto, O’Keefe remained strongly committed to his faith, donating huge amounts of money and time to the Catholic Church. The wealthy businessman and philanthropist died in 1913, in a 2nd floor bedroom of the mansion. (Surprisingly few ghost stories exist).  He was survived by his daughter, Helena Charlotte French, who continued to live in the family home until her death in 1938.

After more than half a century as the O’Keefe family home, the property changed ownership over the next 25 years, its interior converted into office space for the Canadian Brotherhood of Railway Employees, the Canadian Congress of Labour, the United Mine Workers, Longman’s Publishing and several other businesses. In the 1960s, Ryerson Institute of Technology acquired the house, along with various buildings owned by O’Keefe Brewery including the old plant at Victoria and Gould Streets which became a parking lot. The house, then called the Bond Street Annex, was offered up for purchase to the Institute’s founder and first Principal, Howard H. Kerr, by S.E. Lyons and Son Realty Limited in a letter dated March 6, 1963. Principal Kerr, who spearheaded the school’s expansion including the construction of what is now Kerr Hall, struck a deal for $5,000 off the asking price of $85,000; and the 137 Bond Street property became the center of the burgeoning campus.

The school quickly converted the house into a multi-unit student dorm which opened just in time for the 1963 fall semester. This was the earliest, if not the first, residence on the rapidly growing campus; and between the late 1960s to the construction of Pitman Hall in 1991, it was the school’s only official residence. Over the years O’Keefe House developed a distinctive culture. Unlike other residences, O’Keefers forged a close-knit community which they attribute to tight quarters and lack of privacy – bathrooms, bedrooms, the kitchen and lounge were all shared. A far cry from the luxurious mansion once occupied by Eugene O’Keefe and his family, O’Keefe House nevertheless is fondly remembered by generations of O’Keefers as their 'home away from home'. They were shocked and saddened by the University’s sudden announcement in early February 2018 that O’Keefe House would close at the end of the semester, with no clear plans for the building’s future.

In 2022 the University revealed plans to incorporate O’Keefe House into a new Student Wellness Centre: a similar proposal in the 1980s was successfully countered by the O’Keefers who received assurances from the university in 1994 that the house would not be part of a student centre. The present day controversy surrounds the University’s proposed increase to student wellbeing fees to fund the construction costs: fees would jump from $3.93 to $38.83 per semester for all part-full time undergrad and grad students. The irony, of course, is that financial strain negatively impacts student wellbeing. The fee hike starts in fall 2023 following what the University described as a 'successful' passing of a student referendum on the increase. As you reflect on the fact that only 8.5% of eligible students actually voted, you might also ponder why O’Keefe Ale cannot be found in the student pub or local beer and liquor stores.  

Resource List

Cross Reference. Subject Description. (2005, March 17). O’Keefe House/Brewery.

Daily Ryersonian. (1966, November 30). RPI May Buy Brewery Site. [Newspaper article from Daily Ryersonian]. O’Keefe (Folder 2: 1996—). Toronto Metropolitan University, Archives & Special Collections.

Daily Ryersonian. (1967, January 27). 100 Brewers Get ‘Rotten Deal’. [Newspaper article from Daily Ryersonian]. O’Keefe (Folder 2: 1996–). Toronto Metropolitan University, Archives & Special Collections.

The Globe and Mail. (1966, December 21). Ryerson Purchases Brewery Buildings. [Newspaper article from The Globe and Mail]. O’Keefe (Folder 2: 1996—). Toronto Metropolitan University, Archives & Special Collections.

Jones, D. (1986, October 4). Eugene O’Keefe showed an Irish Largesse. [Newspaper From The Toronto Star]. O’Keefe (Folder 1: Early History/Photographs). Toronto Metropolitan University, Archives & Special Collections.

Kyriacou, A. (2018, February 11). O'Keefe House no longer a student residence, but always a piece of history. The Eyeopener. https://theeyeopener.com/2018/02/okeefe-house-no-longer-a-student-residence-but-alway s-a-piece-of-history/

Lee, A. ( 2008). Remember When. [Article from the Alumni Magazine]. O’Keefe (Folder 2: 1966—). Toronto Metropolitan University, Archives & Special Collections.

Luong, C. (1999, March 17). The Nation of O’Keefe House. The Eyeopener. https://theeyeopener.com/1999/03/the-nation-of-okeefe-house/

Mercurio, A. (2018, May 2). A little piece of history: O’Keefe House mixes coziness of home with independent living standards. TorontoMet Today. https://www.torontomu.ca/news-events/news/2018/05/a-little-piece-of-history/

O’Keefe House Alumuni Association. Archived via Wayback Machine. Last Accessed August 9, 2003. https://web.archive.org/web/20141031045417/http://www.okeefehouse.com/

Power, M. (1998). Biography – O'Keefe, Eugene – volume XIV (1911-1920) – dictionary of Canadian biography. Home – Dictionary of Canadian Biography. http://www.biographi.ca/en/bio/o_keefe_eugene_14E.html

Raveendran, R. (2022, November 1). Many TMU students opposed to proposed increase in student wellbeing fee. The Eyeopener. https://theeyeopener.com/2022/11/many-tmu-students-opposed-to-proposed-increase-in-student-wellbeing-fee/

Swainson, G. (1996, February 2). O’Keefe now a Hummingbird. [Newspaper article from The Toronto Star]. O’Keefe (Folder 2: 1996—). Toronto Metropolitan University, Archives & Special Collections.

Toronto City Council. (2023, July 25). Public Notice: 137 Bond Street - Notice of Intention to Designate a Property under Part IV, Section 29 of the Ontario Heritage Act https://secure.toronto.ca/nm/api/individual/notice/4253.do

Toronto Historical Board. (1989, April 5). O’Keefe House. [Legal Document from the Toronto Historical Board]. O’Keefe (Folder 1: Early History/Photographs). Toronto Metropolitan University Archives, Toronto, ON.

Tucker, A. (2008, June 4). Eugene O'Keefe. The Canadian Encyclopedia. https://www.thecanadianencyclopedia.ca/en/article/eugene-okeefe

Wencer, D. (2013, September 14). Historicist: Toronto's Catholic beer baron. Torontoist. https://torontoist.com/2013/09/historicist-torontos-catholic-beer-baron/.

Wenger, K. (2017, January 15). Fountain of Knowledge. The Eyeopener. https://theeyeopener.com/2005/11/fountain-of-knowledge/