WELCOME TO THE ANNEX

The Annex was subdivided in the 1870's and 1880's. It immediately became one of Toronto's elite neighbourhoods. The Annex's first residents included the likes of Timothy Eaton, the patriarch of Eatons department store and George Gooderham, President of the Gooderham and Worts Distillery. The Annex's Golden Era lasted until the 1920's when the upper classes began to migrate northward to newer more fashionable suburbs in Forest Hill and Lawrence Park.

The Annex is Toronto's most heterogeneous community. Its residents include successful business people, prominent artists, University of Toronto students and faculty. This is a vibrant neighbourhood that draws its energy from the University of Toronto, as well as the bars, restaurants and cafes that crowd together along Bloor Street. Many of the rooming houses and multi-unit homes in The Annex have recently been converted back to single-family dwellings, reflecting the return to prominence of this historic Central Toronto Neighbourhood.

The Annex houses, built between 1880 and 1910, are fine examples of Victorian, Queen Anne and Richardsonian Romanesque architectural styles. Plum and pink-coloured Credit River sandstone, rich red brick and terra cotta clay tiles make up the exterior facades of many of these homes. The architectural detail is among the finest in the city, ranging from pyramidal roofs and turrets to recessed grand archways and wooden spindled porches. A second wave of Annex homes dates from 1910 to 1930. These homes are less elaborate than their predecessors but are nonetheless fine examples of English Cottage, Georgian and Tudor-style architecture.