Casa Loma’s bucolic hills disguise its
proximity to downtown

Real Estate Guide › Central

Casa Loma

Average 2008 sale price:

$1,160,773

Property crime:

average

Crime against people:

very low

Neighbourhood map:

See map

This one-time countryside getaway (during the early days of York) gets many of its street names from early Torontonians: Willcocks, Baldwin, Scadding, Russell, Austin and Seton, many of whom focused their attention on the area’s fine architecture. For example, Dr. William Baldwin’s 1818 home is now preserved as the Spadina House museum. The area experienced a significant shift when Henry Pellatt came calling in 1911, convincing usually tasteful architect E. J. Lennox to build the piebald patchwork that is Casa Loma (now one of the city’s main tourist attractions). After that project famously went belly up, the lands attached to the castle were subdivided, and many of the stately homes in the immediate vicinity were then constructed in the shadows of the gaudy castle. Austin Terrace, Warren Road, Poplar Plains, Russell Hill, Clarendon and Spadina Road itself display some of the most impressive homes in the city.

HOUSING STOCK: Residences here are varied, with recent-vintage townhouses giving way to Arts and Crafts mansions and gated manor homes with winding drives. Pristine landscaping and meticulously renovated houses are hallmarks of this upmarket area.

BARGAIN ZONES: There are a few relative deals to be had along St. Clair, near Bathurst.

THE VERDICT: This is a walkable, though hilly, neighbourhood, with beautiful views over the brow in the evenings. Sir Winston Churchill Park at Spadina and St. Clair, with its tennis courts, long running track and wooded scrublands, adds attractiveness to the area. Forest Hill has its village and Rosedale its ravine, but the vistas from the southern parts make this one of the best neighbourhoods in the city.

NEIGHBOURHOOD HOT SPOTS:
Corner House Restaurant Since it opened in 1971, this lovely continental resto, which makes “most romantic” lists every year, has no doubt been the setting for countless Forest Hill first dates. 501 Davenport Rd., 416-923-2604.
Scaramouche Set on the side of the hill with a great outlook to the south, Scaramouche is one of the few culinary survivors from the heady ’80s. Forest Hillers and Rosedalians have just one more year to enjoy the view—at the end of 2010 Scaramouche’s long-standing lease is up. 1 Benvenuto Pl., 416-961-8011.
Tarragon Theatre In its almost 40-year history, Tarragon has premiered works by Judith Thompson, Jason Sherman and Morris Panych, among others. 30 Bridgman Ave., 416-531-1827.