Bridle Path Information
The Bridle Path is an upscale Neighbourhood that is considered to be one of Toronto’s three most affluent, luxurious and prestigious Neighbourhoods and is often nicknamed “Millionaire’s Row”, the other two are Rosedale and Forest Hill. The Bridle Path boundaries are Bayview Avenue to the West, The Bridle Path to the North, South to Sunnybrook Health Sciences Centre, and East from Wilket Creek. Very few through roads pass through this Neighbourhood, thus contributing to its exclusivity. The actual “Bridle Path” name came about as early plans for the neighbourhood included an elaborate system of equestrian bridle paths, which have since been paved over. The legacy remains in the Bridle Path’s wide streets and in the name of this elite community.
The Bridle Path was settled in 1827 by Alexander Milne who settled on the land that is now Edwards Gardens. He operated wool and saw mills on the banks of Wilket Creek until 1823, when the water supply dwindled and he was forced to move his mill east to a site along the Don River. In 1929 when the Bayview Bridge was built over the steep Don River Valley, this area was considered for residential development. Hubert Daniel Bull Page, a Toronto based land developer built his own home at 2 The Bridle Path, a Cape Cod Colonial style house in an effort to spark interest in his subdivision. He envisioned the Bridle Path as an “exclusive enclave of estate homes.” It wasn’t until the 1930’s, 1950’s and 1960’s that the area began to be built. In the late 1940’s George Montegu Black, Jr. (father of Conrad Black) a partner of E.P. Taylor, who owned Windfield Farms, moved into the Neighbourhood. He built a large mansion on Park Lane Circle. In an effort to control who his future neighbours would be, Black took over the company that owned the rolling farmland that was to become the Bridle Path, and set restrictions in place through the North York zoning by-laws---only single dwellings could be built, with a minimum lot size of 2 acres. The area was subdivided into approximately 50 lots, each selling for $25,000 at the time, and began to take shape throughout the 1950’s.
Officially the area is called Bridle Path-Sunnybrook-York Mills and is a municipal and census district in Toronto. It is the name that is legally designated by Toronto City Hall. The northwest quadrant is the southern part of York Mills, particularly the district’s north west corner which is the separate Neighbourhood of Hoggs Hollow, the northeast quadrant south of Wilket Road is the Bridle Path, and the southwest quadrant includes portions of the former communities of Lawrence Park (north of Blythwood Ravine in Sherwood Park), and the southeast quadrant is occupied by Sunnybrook Park.
The Bridle Path’s largest homes are situated on lots that are up to 7 acres. Conrad Black still owns the family homestead. Most of the homes are a combination of old world architecture, modern, Tudor, Georgian and stately manors. Many are gated with highly sophisticated alarm systems. The grounds are manicured and the gardens are lush. Tennis courts, swimming pools with gazebos and cabanas as well as outdoor kitchens and waterfalls are typical of the area. It is like stepping into Architectural Digest.
There is a subdivision to the south of these properties, whose homes are still luxurious, yet they are situated on 100 ft. frontage lots. Many are ravine properties and a lot of newer infill homes are being built in this area. There is a luxury condominium located at 1 Post Road which is built to look like a French Chateau, having only 42 units all with private elevators. There are brand new townhomes being built on Bayview, just north of Post Road, whose price point starts at over two million dollars. Also noteworthy are the luxurious condominiums at Cheddington Place Condominiums, located on the north-east corner of Bayview and Lawrence Avenues. These condominiums also have spectacular ravine views and are nestled just outside of York University’s Glendon College.
Edwards Gardens, which is the home of the Civic Garden Centre, is one of Canada’s finest public gardening parks. The park contains rockeries, perennial gardens, a pond, waterfalls, a rose garden and is the beginning of a 9 km. paved trail that extends through the Don River Valley all the way to Warden Woods Park in Scarborough. The Edwards Garden trail passes through Sunnybrook Park which has horse-back riding stables, as well as fields for field hockey, cricket, rugby and soccer.
Shopping is basically the same in the Bridle Path Neighbourhood as in the York Mills Neighbourhood. York Mills Plaza at the corner of York Mills Road and Bayview Avenue has a Shopper’s Drug Mart, two banks, a coffee shop, a Baskin & Robbins Ice Cream Store combined with Kernels Popcorn, Swiss Master Chocolatier, who will be celebrating its 25th Anniversary on September 25, 2010, has what Susan Macarz, Broker, with Re/Max Ultimate Realty Inc., Brokerage, thinks is the best imported chocolates in Toronto, Richtree Restaurant and Bakery, various retail stores, Nortown Meats which have fresh meat and fish, and prepared foods, a drycleaner, and Metro. Just further north is Bayview Village Shopping Centre, or east at York Mills and Leslie, Longo’s Plaza. Many residents have their food delivered from the upscale Pustari’s food store, which will be opening a location in the Bayview Village Shopping Centre shortly. Currently it is located just north of Lawrence Avenue on Avenue Road. There is a TTC bus service that takes one to the nearest subway station, either at Davisville and Yonge or York Mills and Yonge. It is a short car ride north on Bayview to all the major highways, and south to downtown Toronto.
If you would like more information about the Bridge Path Neighbourhood and presently available properties for sale/lease, click here or call me at 416-219-7583 (client line) or 416-487-5131 (office) or send me an email to susan@susanmacarz.com. Please specify " Bridle Path Neighbourhood" in the subject heading and include specifically what you are looking for (Type & style, # of bedrooms,# of baths, parking, sale or lease, price range, time frame, etc.), this will allow me to provide you with the proper information that you are seeking.
**The Toronto neighbourhood text profiles, sketches and maps displayed on this website were published in "Your Guide to Toronto Neighbourhoods", are copyright Maple Tree Publishing and have been reproduced by the Toronto Real Estate Board under license.
**The Preceding piece of text is freely licensed, and the original text is found at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bridle_Path,_Toronto
