The Bridle Path has often been referred to as “Millionaires Row”. Indeed most of the houses in this neighbourhood sell for well in excess of a million dollars. This exclusive enclave of homes is surrounded by the Don River Valley and lush parkland, which provide the perfect backdrop for The Bridle Path’s stately homes.
Bridle Path residents shop, play, and educate their children along Bayview Avenue, whose landmarks include the upscale York Mills Shopping Plaza, the posh Toronto Granite Club, and the private Crescent School for boys. The Toronto French School is located just off of Bayview at Lawrence Avenue.
History of Bridle Path
The Bridle Path could hardly have been envisioned by Alexander Milne, who settled on what is now Edwards Gardens in 1827. Milne operated woolen and saw mills on the banks of Wilket Creek until 1832 when a dwindling water supply forced Milne to move east to a mill site along the Don River.
The Bridle Path inconspicuously spent the rest of the 1800’s and early 1900’s as farmland. It wasn’t until 1929, when the Bayview Bridge was built over the steep Don River Valley, that this area was considered for residential development.
Hubert Daniel Bull Page, a Toronto-based land developer was one of the founders of the present day neighbourhood. Page envisioned the Bridle Path as an exclusive enclave of estate homes. In 1929, Page built the Cape Cod Colonial style house at number 2 The Bridle Path, in an effort to spark interest in his subdivision.
Early plans for this neighbourhood called for an elaborate system of equestrian Bridle Paths. These Bridle Paths have long since been paved over, however their legacy remains in the Bridle Path’s unusually wide streets and in the name of this neighbourhood.
