Even in the early 1930s, Crescent Place is a neighbourhood out of the past. The five Victorian mansions and the remote patch of pasture placed between them have the air of the 1890s, even as the city-once miles away from this idyllic retreat-encroaches and surrounds the enclave. But while these rare...

Even in the early 1930s, Crescent Place is a neighbourhood out of the past. The five Victorian mansions and the remote patch of pasture placed between them have the air of the 1890s, even as the city-once miles away from this idyllic retreat-encroaches and surrounds the enclave. But while these rarefied residences may appear calm on the outside, their isolated interiors contain dark secrets, prolonged feuds and generations of high-toned trouble.

In these houses are a husband and wife who fight constantly and another couple who hasn't spoken to each other in two decades. There is a widow in permanent mourning and a daughter whom the newspapers call psychotic. And there is a bedridden old woman who is about to be killed with an axe.