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Real Estate Guide › Central

St. Andrew - Windfields

Average 2008 sale price:

$1,094,057

Property crime:

high

Crime against people:

low

Neighbourhood map:

See map

Ask around and locals will tell you that the region was named for Windfield Farms, E. P. Taylor’s Oshawa-area stud farm, where famed thoroughbred Northern Dancer was born. Though there are horse motifs everywhere—metal cut-outs in front of Windfields Junior High, steel horse heads above the bar at Windfield’s Restaurant—Taylor lived outside the area’s borders (though that doesn’t stop real estate agents from claiming otherwise). Agents are keen to portray the area as upper class, but it’s not uniformly upscale once you start poking around. Sure, if you hang out on Old Colony Road or Forest Hill Boulevard you’ll find some truly impressive houses, but the closer to Yonge Street, the more modest the homes; by the time you get up to Woodsworth on the banks of the mighty 401, they can be downright ramshackle. While there are two major grocery stores, there’s no commercial strip, which means socializing and shopping require a drive down Bayview. However, the area is rich in green space and well-regarded institutions, such as York Mills Collegiate Institute and Crescent School.

HOUSING STOCK: The mansions show an extraordinary range of styles, from Georgian stunners and Tudor jaw-droppers to some examples of ’60s and ’70s modern. Bayview favours the ’60s ranch style, York Mills the ’40s bungalow. All but a few are well kept and well financed. Windfields’ home builders appear to have specialized in the two-storey windowed front hall, the ornate outdoor carriage lamp, the driveway outsized enough to double as a hockey rink, and the doorway un-ironically pillared in classic Greek style.

BARGAIN ZONES: The cheapest area is Woodsworth Road, but generally the closer you move toward Yonge or the 401, the less expensive the houses tend to be.

THE VERDICT: This is not a neighbourhood for people who prefer to walk to their local Starbucks, movie theatre or green grocer, as evidenced by the extraordinary number of three- and four-car garages. Close to York Mills station and GO Transit (with a bus link to the airport), as well as Yonge and the 401, the ’hood makes up for a lack of amenities with easy access to those in other parts of the city.

NEIGHBOURHOOD HOT SPOTS:
Auberge du Pommier Chef Jason Bangerter’s creamed shellfish soup and passion fruit mousse pull people all the way up Yonge, but for a lucky few, this is just their neighbourhood French eatery. 4150 Yonge St., 416-222-2220.