Toronto's "Maple Mansion" is a new content house for creators, and it cost just under $1M to make it happen.
Destiny Caldwell, a 27-year-old cosplayer and Twitch streamer known as "Dessy," and Corey Tonge, a 31-year-old Youtuber and Tiktoker, bought and renovated a home in Toronto to bring creators together.
Caldwell and Tonge create gaming content, and together they have over five million YouTube followers and over 11 million TikTok followers.
Inside Destiny Caldwell and Corey Tonge's ‘Maple Mansion,’ Canada’s First Creator House
They make videos on video games, anime cosplays, and even comedy skits based on the cringe stereotypes of gamer girls and guys with touches of their everyday life sprinkled in.
Caldwell and Tonge started their romance over a request to collab, and now they've invested almost $1M to create a home together where they can collaborate with other Canadian creators.
The pair met for the first time in February 2022 for a collab when Tonge was located in Montreal, and Caldwell was in Toronto.
Just seven months later, Corey moved to the 6ix, and they bought a house together for around $850K.
Fast forward five months and $75K in renovations later, Caldwell and Tonge have created an oasis for content creation with two dressing rooms tightly packed with costumes and props, a green screen studio and two gaming rooms.
"The Maple Mansion is a name we both came up with because it represents Canada as a whole, and we wanted a place where all our content creator friends can come and hang out and make content together," said Caldwell.
"We feel like LA is very collaborative, getting together, but Canada seems to be a little bit separate, so were like, no, we have to change that and let's all be collaborate and have fun."
So far, they've already hosted a handful of creators, and their home was only just recently completed.
Here's an excluisve first look inside Caldwell and Tonge's home.
Entry Way
The photo opportunities start in the entryway with a floor-to-ceiling plant wall encircled in white LED lights and a red neon sign that reads "Maple Mansion."
The entryway has a white bench, a Gameboy pillow propped to the side, and a camera ready for guests to snap a polaroid picture for the creator wall where Dessy and Tonge keep track of their guests.
Main floor
The main floor is calm compared to the rest of their house, with neutral tones and stylish decor, but if you look hard enough, touches of their gaming niche are everywhere.
The living room offers a comfortable backdrop for videos with a coffee table and couch tastefully decorated with a Nintendo switch and controller pillow.
The living room at Maple Mansion.
Brooke Houghton | Narcity
The kitchen is spacious and tricked out with more LED lighting making it perfect for videos– not to mention the natural light pouring in from the backyard.
The Maple Mansion kitchen.
Brooke Houghton | Narcity
The dining area is ordinary at first glance, but you'll find gamer figurines on the wall, Pokemon table coasters and colour-changing panels at the ready.
The Maple Mansion dinning area.
Brooke Houghton | Narcity
Tonge says they wanted each room to have a "degree of gamer" and be social media based, so matter where you are in the house, there's a perfect video backdrop.
Basement
Walking down the stairs, you'll find another gamer-themed seating area encircled by content rooms.
The basement lounge at the Maple Mansion.
Brooke Houghton | Narcity
Caldwell and Tonge have dressing rooms filled with wigs, costumes and props for content creation that they're more than willing to share with their guests.
"We don't mind sharing. We know how expensive costumes are. We don't mind helping each other out."
Caldwell says renovations for her costume room alone cost around $18K.
"This was actually all unfinished. There weren't any walls or anything up," she says. "This was completely unfinished when we bought it."
Destiny's dressing room.
Brooke Houghton | Narcity
Her dressing room is filled with racks of costumes, wigs, shelves of shoes with rose vines cascading down, and a full-length mirror.
Tonge's dressing room isn't as fancy, but it is practical, with boxes filled with props and cosplays.
Corey's dressing room.
Brooke Houghton | Narcity
One room over is where most of Tonge's TikToks are shot.
The green screen room is decked out with a wall-to-wall green screen, soundproofing panels, and several stand-up lights to flood the scene for a seamless finish on video.
Corey Tonge in his green room.
Jackie Vandinther | Narcity
Upstairs
On the top floor is where Caldwell and Tonge's creativity shines.
Their gamer rooms are side by side with handmade cloud ceilings with faux lightening, streaming and editing stations and personal touches.
Destiny's gamer room.
Brooke Houghton | Narcity
Caldwell's room is filled with "feminine energy" with a dreamy pink and purple colour scheme, custom artwork, and twinkle lights floating down from the ceiling.
A close up of stuffed animals inside a shelf.
Brooke Houghton | Narcity
Her room is filled with plushies and even a custom pink neon sign with her creator's name.
Her computer setup is ideal for streaming with overhead lighting, several monitors, and a headset with kitten ears and a halo.
Caldwell says she streams on Twitch for over 20 hours a week, so her setup is pivotal to her craft.
Destiny's streaming station.
Maxmillien Rosenberg | Dreamstime
Corey's gaming room mirrors Dessy's with a darker aesthetic.
His walls are painted black, and his flood lights shift colours to reflect the mood of whatever video he happens to be filming.
Corey's gamer room.
Brooke Houghton | Narcity
Similar to Caldwell, his space is filled with gamer decor, from stuffed animals to custom artwork.
A close up of stuffed animals and figurines on shelves.
Maxmillien Rosenberg | Dreamstime
His computer space is set up for streaming, but these days Tonge says he spends most of his time focusing on Youtube, where he can spend up to 20 hours editing one long-form video.
Corey's computer set up.
Maxmillien Rosenberg | Dreamstime
One of the biggest misconceptions Caldwell and Tonge think people have about creators is the effort and time it takes to be one.
The couple says they work seven days a week and often work into the early morning hours.
"Dessy and I are working every day from 8:30 a.m. to 2 a.m., even on vacation, were filming," said Tonge.
So when they can peel themselves away from their screens, they hang out in their relaxation nook upstairs, where they can sleep on a massive bean bag or relax in a floating chair by their electric fire.
Relaxation nook in the Maple Mansion.
Brooke Houghton | Narcity
Tonge and Caldwell's bedroom is probably the least gamer-themed room in their home where the couple can relax, although Caldwell's makeup vanity doubles as a filming location for her "get ready with me" videos.
Corey and Destiny's master bedroom and bath.
Brooke Houghton | Narcity
How much everything costs & the future of Maple Mansion
To renovate their Maple Mansion, Caldwell and Tonge told Narcity they spent $75K, including $12K on new flooring, $18K on the stairs, $22k on finishing the basement and around $23K on everything from decor to lighting, and cosplays.
The investment is significant, but so is their purpose.
"The Maple Mansion is an idea that we both had for a whole year because we've always been working from our own homes, and what we've realized is a lot of creators don't have that place to film," says Tonge.
"It's just a stepping stone for now. This is like the Maple mini Mansion, but it will be something great one day."
