Toronto’s Most Prestigious Neighbourhood Offers Upscale Charm
The Bloor-Yorkville neighbourhood is Toronto’s answer to Manhattan’s Fifth Avenue. Bounded on the south by the “Mink Mile” featuring high-end designers like Chanel, Tiffany, Giorgio and Hermes, Yorkville stretches north to a more cozy, old-world feel with secluded laneways and cobblestone courtyards.
Don’t even think of going to Yorkville without a gold card – its world-class restaurants are where movie stars come to dine and its swanky boutique shops are where high fashion is showcased. Upscale antique shops and art galleries also call Yorkville home.
Even the park is contemporary; the result of a global design competition, it represents the varied topography found in southern Ontario, complete with a birch grove, a wildflower meadow, a pine forest and a massive granite outcrop. The park has won a number of international design awards.
But for all its modern trappings, Yorkville also has historic charm. Formed in 1853 as a middle-class suburb with Victorian mews housing, as it has evolved, the neighbourhood has preserved that sense of traditionalism. While highbrow shops and dining hot spots have taken up residence in many of the former homes, rustic lampposts and wrought-iron park benches remain as part of the modern landscape.
In the 21st century, most Yorkville residents are housed in luxurious condominium suites geared to pampering Toronto’s elite.
Four Seasons Private Residences
Come Fall 2010, the city’s most desirable neighbourhood will never be the same. That’s when the prestigious Four Seasons Private Residences is expected to rise above the northwest corner of Bay St. and Yorkville Ave., putting it in the middle of Toronto’s chicest shops and best restaurants.
Private residential suites will be tucked away beginning on the 24th floor of the 55-storey west tower, which will sit atop the Four Seasons Hotel, and on each of the 25 storeys of the more secluded east tower situated on the east side of the circular entryway. Both towers were designed with frames of glass, stone and steel by architectsAlliance.
Residents can expect to be greeted at the entrance by a valet and ushered into a lobby designed by Yabu Pushelberg before taking a high-speed elevator to their luxurious suite. They may take advantage of services and amenities that include a luxurious pool, fitness centre, spa, a lounge and, of course, the Four Seasons Restaurant.
Created by renowned landscape designer Claude Cormier, plans include an “imported granite urban carpet in the porte cochere area”, as well as a hedge installation designed around the English rose.
