Wychwood

The Tollkeeper's Cottage & Davenport Road
750 Davenport Road
In the 1800s, private companies were contracted to build and maintain roads, and collected tolls from users in order to fund these operations. This heritage-designated cottage was constructed in 1835 as part of a tollgate utilized for this purpose, and is the oldest surviving one of its kind anywhere in Canada. It was one of five tollgates located along what is now Davenport Road. The cottage has been relocated several times over the years and was almost demolished, but was saved largely thanks to the efforts of the Community History Project, who continue to operate the building as a museum. There is a plaque close to the cottage that notes the history of Davenport Road. The plaque describes how it was originally used as a path by Indigenous Peoples, and how European settlers then turned it into a road and named it after a house built atop the ridge.

Wychwood Park
Area Northwest of Davenport Road and Bathurst Street (Access from North Side of Davenport Road west of Bathurst Street, or from Intersection of Tyrrel Avenue and Wychwood Avenue)
*Note: Houses are private property. Please observe from the street only. A small enclave of largely hidden, beautiful heritage-designated homes and natural features, Wychwood Park traces its history back to the 1870s, when it was founded as an artists' colony by Marmaduke Matthews and Alexander Jardine. Matthews and Jardine subdivided the lots and many other homes were constructed in the early 1900s, some by noted architect Eden Smith in Arts and Crafts style. Several notable Torontonians have called the neighbourhood home over the years, including Smith himself, intellectual Marshall McLuhan, and artist Gustav Hahn. The area is unique in that it is still a private community, with an elected board of trustees that maintain the roads, lighting, and other community amenities. Wychwood Park became the first residential area to receive heritage designation under the Ontario Heritage Act in 1985.

Wychwood Park (Taddle Creek)
Within Wychwood Park
Wychwood Park is particularly important because of the longstanding presence of Taddle Creek Pond, which is the wellspring of the now buried creek. This waterway and all waterways were held as the sacred lifelines of Mother Earth by Indigenous Peoples. Despite varying perspectives and differing cultural practices, one thing Indigenous People from all walks of life hold, together, is that water is a spiritual being. Water has life-giving properties akin to the life-giving properties of women who bear children. That aside, waterways proved to be essential for travel, for sustenance, for leisure and so on. Taddle Creek naturally flows through the Annex, across the University of Toronto campus, and further east into Lake Ontario where the creek channeled. That converging of waterways is now the intersection of Front and Parliament. Everything south of that intersection is artificial land that was manufactured for the sole purposes of expanding the railways in order to consolidate Canada's colonial hold over what is now Western Canada. Upon the settlement of Europeans, Taddle Creek became polluted along with most Canadian waters across the country.

Wychwood Barns
601 Christie Street
These heritage-designated structures were constructed as streetcar repair barns between 1913 and 1921. They continued to be used to store, maintain, and repair Toronto Transit Commission (TTC) streetcars up until 1978. The building was abandoned not long after and remained boarded up and unused for many years. The buildings were renovated and transformed into the community cultural hub it is today in the mid-2000s, following an extensive, community-involved process. The multi-faceted complex is now home to 26 artist live/work spaces, programming and administrative facilities for 10 non-profit organizations, 14 artist studios, and an 8,000-square-foot 'covered street' used for farmers and art markets, conferences, and events.

John Agnew House
53 Turner Road
*Note: Private property. Please observe the house from the street only. This heritage-designated home was constructed in 1926 and designed by architectural firm Smith and Wright, who were known for designing such other prominent buildings like York Memorial Collegiate near Keele Street and Eglinton Avenue West. The home is designed in Period Revival style, and features a steeply-pitched cross-gable roof, three-sided bay windows, and brick chimneys. The home reflects the character of the Bracondale neighbourhood it is situated in.

Hillcrest Park
950 Davenport Road
A 2.1-hectare park at Davenport Road and Christie Street that features a ball diamond, an off-leash dog area, a basketball court, four lit outdoor tennis courts, a community garden, a wading pool and a children's playground. From its perch atop the Davenport escarpment at the south perimeter of the Davenport neighbourhood, Hillcrest Park offers a spectacular view of the city skyline and Lake Ontario. A plaque in the park notes the history of Bracondale Hill, which was the name of a house constructed by Robert John Turner, one of the first European settlers in the area. His son Frank inherited the home and eventually became the postmaster for the small village that developed with the Bracondale name. The home was demolished in 1937, but nearby Turner Road continues to bear the family name.

Sunflower Murals
Along Christie Street, north of Dupont Street
These lovely murals of sunflowers were painted by a group of seniors living in the Christie Gardens complex adjacent to them. A retired art teacher named Barbara Bunting, who was 89 years old when the first murals were painted in the mid-2000s, led the project, and community members replaced the murals a few years later when construction led to the removal of some of them.

Garrison Creek Park
1090 Shaw Street
This small linear park runs west from Shaw Street to Ossington Avenue north of the Canadian Pacific Railway (CPR) tracks. It is located near the headwaters of Garrison Creek and features a community garden. Many of the garages on the laneway that mark the park's northern boundary are painted with beautiful murals. Curated by artist Nick Sweetman, the murals mostly feature images of butterflies and are part of David Suzuki's Butterflyway Project.

Geary Avenue Parkette
15 Geary Avenue
This small park features a playground and wading pool. There are currently plans in the works to expand the park to connect with several other nearby green spaces through the hydro corridor that runs along its length. This interconnected series of parks will be known as The Green Line, with the goal of having five kilometres of the Dupont Hydro Corridor transformed into one cohesive green space.

'Scott Pilgrim Vs. The World' Filming Location
65 Alberta Avenue
*Note: Private Property. Please observe the house from the street only. This house was used as a filming location for the 2010 film 'Scott Pilgrim vs. The World' as Scott and his friend Wallace's apartment. The film is unique in that it is a rare example of a Hollywood movie that is both shot and set in Toronto. It is based on a series of graphic novels by Toronto artist Bryan Lee O'Malley who lived just down the street from here at 27 Alberta Avenue. British director Edgar Wright lived in Toronto for a year to get a feel for the city, and met with Bryan Lee O'Malley to visit the locations depicted in his novels. Several other spots in the Wychwood neighbourhood were used as filming locations, including Hillcrest Park and Turner Road.

Feel Good Lane Murals
Laneway north of St. Clair Avenue West between Arlington Avenue and Atlas Avenue
Artists gathered in the St. Clair West neighbourhood to paint dozens of murals in 'Feel Good Lane' - a laneway named after a local rapper who passed away in 2014.

Churches at St. Clair and Wychwood
Intersection of St. Clair Avenue West and Wychwood Avenue
Three heritage-designated churches are visible at the intersection of St. Clair Avenue West and Wychwood Avenue: St. Michael and Angels All Anglican Church, St. Clair Avenue Baptist Church, and Wychwood Davenport Presbyterian Church. St. Michael and Angels All Anglican Church at the southeast corner of the intersection was constructed in the 1910s-20s and features a collection of beautiful stained glass windows in its church sanctuary. St. Clair Avenue Baptist Church at 152 Wychwood Avenue near the northwest corner of the intersection dates back to 1924-25. At the northeast corner, Wychwood Davenport Presbyterian Church was constructed in 1937, and served the community for many years until the congregation moved to another church building down the street. Since that time, the church has been used as a filming location for productions such as 'The Handmaid's Tale' and is now subject to redevelopment proposals.

Jennylynd James Artbox
Northeast corner of St. Clair Avenue West and Raglan Avenue
Artist Jennylynd James painted this beautiful utility box in a jazz design. The box mostly features jazz musicians playing a number of different instruments. James also included Cuban musicians playing salsa music in her design as well.

Paula Gonzalez-Ossa and Na-Me-Res 'First Nations Cosmovision of Nature' Mural
523 St. Clair Avenue West (mural visible at the back of the building, along Vaughan Road)
Created by lead artist Paula Gonzalez(-Ossa) and Native Men's Residence (known as Na-Me-Res), 'First Nations Cosmovision of Nature' depicts the trees and plants that supported life in the area more than 150 years ago and reminds us to respect and honour nature.

York Wilson House
41 Alcina Avenue
*Note: Private property. Please observe the house from the street only. This heritage-designated house was constructed as a home for internationally acclaimed artist York Wilson. Wilson was born in Toronto in 1907 and first exhibited his work in 1931. He ultimately had more than 70 solo exhibitions to his name by the time he passed away in 1984. He completed 12 mural compositions in Toronto, some of which are very well known. These include 'The History of Oil' (1957) at the old Imperial Oil Building at 111 St. Clair Avenue West, 'The Seven Lively Arts' (1960) in the foyer of Meridian Hall at 1 Front Street East, and 'Ontario' (1968) in the Macdonald Block at 900 Bay Street (the Macdonald Block is currently undergoing major renovations). A plaque out front of the home notes Wilson's life and artistic accomplishments.

Explore Wychwood

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Explore FREE Public Art Across the City. Toronto's Year of Public Art 2021-2022 is a year-long celebration of Toronto's exceptional public art collection and the creative community behind it.

We hope that you enjoyed exploring this Toronto neighbourhood and found many other points of interest along the way. While StrollTO highlights some of the 'hidden gems' in the neighbourhood, there may be others that could be included in a future edition. Would you like to share a point of interest that you discovered in the neighbourhood? Email us at [email protected].

Neighbourhood Stroll

This neighbourhood runs along both sides of a ridge north of Davenport Road and features a number of historic residential enclaves including Wychwood Park and Bracondale Hill. Fantastic architecture can be found throughout, as well as parks that feature stunning views over the city. Great local businesses can be found along St. Clair Avenue West and Davenport Road and in the Regal Heights Village, Hillcrest Village, Wychwood Heights, and Dupont by the Castle BIAs.

Main Streets: St. Clair Avenue West and Davenport Road
  1. The Tollkeeper's Cottage & Davenport Road
    750 Davenport Road
    In the 1800s, private companies were contracted to build and maintain roads, and collected tolls from users in order to fund these operations. This heritage-designated cottage was constructed in 1835 as part of a tollgate utilized for this purpose, and is the oldest surviving one of its kind anywhere in Canada. It was one of five tollgates located along what is now Davenport Road. The cottage has been relocated several times over the years and was almost demolished, but was saved largely thanks to the efforts of the Community History Project, who continue to operate the building as a museum. There is a plaque close to the cottage that notes the history of Davenport Road. The plaque describes how it was originally used as a path by Indigenous Peoples, and how European settlers then turned it into a road and named it after a house built atop the ridge.
  2. Wychwood Park
    Area Northwest of Davenport Road and Bathurst Street (Access from North Side of Davenport Road west of Bathurst Street, or from Intersection of Tyrrel Avenue and Wychwood Avenue)
    *Note: Houses are private property. Please observe from the street only. A small enclave of largely hidden, beautiful heritage-designated homes and natural features, Wychwood Park traces its history back to the 1870s, when it was founded as an artists' colony by Marmaduke Matthews and Alexander Jardine. Matthews and Jardine subdivided the lots and many other homes were constructed in the early 1900s, some by noted architect Eden Smith in Arts and Crafts style. Several notable Torontonians have called the neighbourhood home over the years, including Smith himself, intellectual Marshall McLuhan, and artist Gustav Hahn. The area is unique in that it is still a private community, with an elected board of trustees that maintain the roads, lighting, and other community amenities. Wychwood Park became the first residential area to receive heritage designation under the Ontario Heritage Act in 1985.
  3. Wychwood Park (Taddle Creek)
    Within Wychwood Park
    Wychwood Park is particularly important because of the longstanding presence of Taddle Creek Pond, which is the wellspring of the now buried creek. This waterway and all waterways were held as the sacred lifelines of Mother Earth by Indigenous Peoples. Despite varying perspectives and differing cultural practices, one thing Indigenous People from all walks of life hold, together, is that water is a spiritual being. Water has life-giving properties akin to the life-giving properties of women who bear children. That aside, waterways proved to be essential for travel, for sustenance, for leisure and so on. Taddle Creek naturally flows through the Annex, across the University of Toronto campus, and further east into Lake Ontario where the creek channeled. That converging of waterways is now the intersection of Front and Parliament. Everything south of that intersection is artificial land that was manufactured for the sole purposes of expanding the railways in order to consolidate Canada's colonial hold over what is now Western Canada. Upon the settlement of Europeans, Taddle Creek became polluted along with most Canadian waters across the country.
  4. Wychwood Barns
    601 Christie Street
    These heritage-designated structures were constructed as streetcar repair barns between 1913 and 1921. They continued to be used to store, maintain, and repair Toronto Transit Commission (TTC) streetcars up until 1978. The building was abandoned not long after and remained boarded up and unused for many years. The buildings were renovated and transformed into the community cultural hub it is today in the mid-2000s, following an extensive, community-involved process. The multi-faceted complex is now home to 26 artist live/work spaces, programming and administrative facilities for 10 non-profit organizations, 14 artist studios, and an 8,000-square-foot 'covered street' used for farmers and art markets, conferences, and events.
  5. John Agnew House
    53 Turner Road
    *Note: Private property. Please observe the house from the street only. This heritage-designated home was constructed in 1926 and designed by architectural firm Smith and Wright, who were known for designing such other prominent buildings like York Memorial Collegiate near Keele Street and Eglinton Avenue West. The home is designed in Period Revival style, and features a steeply-pitched cross-gable roof, three-sided bay windows, and brick chimneys. The home reflects the character of the Bracondale neighbourhood it is situated in.
  6. Hillcrest Park
    950 Davenport Road
    A 2.1-hectare park at Davenport Road and Christie Street that features a ball diamond, an off-leash dog area, a basketball court, four lit outdoor tennis courts, a community garden, a wading pool and a children's playground. From its perch atop the Davenport escarpment at the south perimeter of the Davenport neighbourhood, Hillcrest Park offers a spectacular view of the city skyline and Lake Ontario. A plaque in the park notes the history of Bracondale Hill, which was the name of a house constructed by Robert John Turner, one of the first European settlers in the area. His son Frank inherited the home and eventually became the postmaster for the small village that developed with the Bracondale name. The home was demolished in 1937, but nearby Turner Road continues to bear the family name.
  7. Sunflower Murals
    Along Christie Street, north of Dupont Street
    These lovely murals of sunflowers were painted by a group of seniors living in the Christie Gardens complex adjacent to them. A retired art teacher named Barbara Bunting, who was 89 years old when the first murals were painted in the mid-2000s, led the project, and community members replaced the murals a few years later when construction led to the removal of some of them.
  8. Garrison Creek Park
    1090 Shaw Street
    This small linear park runs west from Shaw Street to Ossington Avenue north of the Canadian Pacific Railway (CPR) tracks. It is located near the headwaters of Garrison Creek and features a community garden. Many of the garages on the laneway that mark the park's northern boundary are painted with beautiful murals. Curated by artist Nick Sweetman, the murals mostly feature images of butterflies and are part of David Suzuki's Butterflyway Project.
  9. Geary Avenue Parkette
    15 Geary Avenue
    This small park features a playground and wading pool. There are currently plans in the works to expand the park to connect with several other nearby green spaces through the hydro corridor that runs along its length. This interconnected series of parks will be known as The Green Line, with the goal of having five kilometres of the Dupont Hydro Corridor transformed into one cohesive green space.
  10. 'Scott Pilgrim Vs. The World' Filming Location
    65 Alberta Avenue
    *Note: Private Property. Please observe the house from the street only. This house was used as a filming location for the 2010 film 'Scott Pilgrim vs. The World' as Scott and his friend Wallace's apartment. The film is unique in that it is a rare example of a Hollywood movie that is both shot and set in Toronto. It is based on a series of graphic novels by Toronto artist Bryan Lee O'Malley who lived just down the street from here at 27 Alberta Avenue. British director Edgar Wright lived in Toronto for a year to get a feel for the city, and met with Bryan Lee O'Malley to visit the locations depicted in his novels. Several other spots in the Wychwood neighbourhood were used as filming locations, including Hillcrest Park and Turner Road.
  11. Feel Good Lane Murals
    Laneway north of St. Clair Avenue West between Arlington Avenue and Atlas Avenue
    Artists gathered in the St. Clair West neighbourhood to paint dozens of murals in 'Feel Good Lane' - a laneway named after a local rapper who passed away in 2014.
  12. Churches at St. Clair and Wychwood
    Intersection of St. Clair Avenue West and Wychwood Avenue
    Three heritage-designated churches are visible at the intersection of St. Clair Avenue West and Wychwood Avenue: St. Michael and Angels All Anglican Church, St. Clair Avenue Baptist Church, and Wychwood Davenport Presbyterian Church. St. Michael and Angels All Anglican Church at the southeast corner of the intersection was constructed in the 1910s-20s and features a collection of beautiful stained glass windows in its church sanctuary. St. Clair Avenue Baptist Church at 152 Wychwood Avenue near the northwest corner of the intersection dates back to 1924-25. At the northeast corner, Wychwood Davenport Presbyterian Church was constructed in 1937, and served the community for many years until the congregation moved to another church building down the street. Since that time, the church has been used as a filming location for productions such as 'The Handmaid's Tale' and is now subject to redevelopment proposals.
  13. Jennylynd James Artbox
    Northeast corner of St. Clair Avenue West and Raglan Avenue
    Artist Jennylynd James painted this beautiful utility box in a jazz design. The box mostly features jazz musicians playing a number of different instruments. James also included Cuban musicians playing salsa music in her design as well.
  14. Paula Gonzalez-Ossa and Na-Me-Res 'First Nations Cosmovision of Nature' Mural
    523 St. Clair Avenue West (mural visible at the back of the building, along Vaughan Road)
    Created by lead artist Paula Gonzalez(-Ossa) and Native Men's Residence (known as Na-Me-Res), 'First Nations Cosmovision of Nature' depicts the trees and plants that supported life in the area more than 150 years ago and reminds us to respect and honour nature.
  15. York Wilson House
    41 Alcina Avenue
    *Note: Private property. Please observe the house from the street only. This heritage-designated house was constructed as a home for internationally acclaimed artist York Wilson. Wilson was born in Toronto in 1907 and first exhibited his work in 1931. He ultimately had more than 70 solo exhibitions to his name by the time he passed away in 1984. He completed 12 mural compositions in Toronto, some of which are very well known. These include 'The History of Oil' (1957) at the old Imperial Oil Building at 111 St. Clair Avenue West, 'The Seven Lively Arts' (1960) in the foyer of Meridian Hall at 1 Front Street East, and 'Ontario' (1968) in the Macdonald Block at 900 Bay Street (the Macdonald Block is currently undergoing major renovations). A plaque out front of the home notes Wilson's life and artistic accomplishments.

Accessibility information: All points of interest on this stroll are viewable from the street. There are no sidewalks throughout much of Wychwood Park. Geary Avenue Parkette does not have paved paths. Stairless access to Hillcrest Park can be found on Hillcrest Drive.

The StrollTO itineraries may follow routes that do not receive winter maintenance. Please review winter safety tips and for more information contact 311.

Soundtracks of the City

From global superstars to local favourites and ones to watch, the Soundtracks of the City playlists all feature artists who have called Toronto home. Whether it’s a lyric about the neighborhood, an artist representing a cultural community, or a tie-in to the StrollTO itinerary itself, all the music reflects connections to an individual ward or the City as a whole.

Music was chosen based on an artist’s Spotify presence and each song’s broad appeal, as well as its associations with the cultures, languages and ethnicities that reflect Toronto’s neighborhoods and diverse music scene. Soundtracks of the City combines 425 songs that feature more than 500 different local artists or acts, showcasing songs in 23 different languages.