The Estates of Old Toronto

Janet Arnett is the former campus manager of adult education at Ontario’s Georgian College. She is the author of Antiques and Collectibles: Starting Small, The Grange at Knock, and 673 Ways to Save Money.

Reading this book is like drifting through a historic cemetery on a
summer day. But instead of headstones commemorating individuals, we
stroll among the memories of houses and properties, the estates of the
rich and influential of an earlier era.

The author looks at 74 Toronto estates that were built, flourished, and
faded away sometime between the late 1700s and circa 1930. For each
estate, she gives location, a brief history of the family, a description
of the house, and a sketch or photo of the building and its owner. All
that is to be expected in any architectural history, but what comes next
cements the work’s value for Toronto’s local history hobbyists.

Like observing what is touched by the shadow of a tombstone, the author
researched how those long-forgotten estates touch Toronto today.
Sometimes the shadow is obvious, with an entire community bearing the
name of the estate. At other times it may be as obscure as a street
named for a daughter of the manor.

Torontonians will recognize the names of some of the estates: Castle
Frank, Rosedale, Glendon Hall, The Grange. Others, equally interesting,
are not well known and so provide rich subjects to be discovered and
explored.