Wychwood Park

The Origins and Development of Wychwood Park

Toronto’s Wychwood Park neighbourhood was first settled by by Marmaduke Matthews (a landscape painter), in the 1870’s. Wychwood Park received it’s name from Mr. Matthews, because it reminded him of his childhood home in Oxfordshire, England.

Street View Wychwood Park

The first house was built by Mr. Matthews in 1874. Soon after, in 1877 Alexander Jardine (a friend of Mr. Matthews), built the second house in Wychwood Park. Together Matthews and Jardine purchased the land, and registered a subdivision for what is now Wychwood Park, as it’s seen today.

The Wychwood Park is known for it’s architectural homes. It was one of Toronto’s earliest planned communities, and Wychwood Park was designated as an Ontario Heritage Conservation district in 1985.

There’s just over 60 homes available in the Wychwood Park neighbourhood. Surrounded by 300+ year old trees, the homes are built with traditional English Arts and Crafts style, with many designed by prominent architect Eden Smith (who also lived in the neighbourhood, until he passed away in 1949).

The Local Wychwood TTC

Today the Wychwood Park neighbourhood is one of Toronto’s few private communities. The cost for living in one of Toronto’s most exclusive neighbourhoods, is a bit more compared to other neighbourhoods. There is a special tax paid by all Wychwood Park homeowners. It’s calculated based on the size of your property. This pays for the roads, parklands and amenities. The community is also managed by it’s own executive council.

As you venture through the Wychwood Park neighbourhood, you’ll meet lot of friendly people, and see some of the most beautiful nature in all of Toronto. Residence of Wychwood Park share a communal tennis court, park, and pond fed by Taddle Creek. Taddle Creek runs directly through the heart of Wychwood Park, and is one of the only areas where you can see Taddle Creek above ground. Taddle Creek and the pond are preserved as parkland.

When it comes time to shop, most residence find all their shopping needs at the top of Wychwood Avenue where you can find: convenience stores, dry cleaning, laundry, Thai food, flowers, videos, clothing, and home décor boutiques. If you’re looking for more, you can head to the massive Superstore, five minutes down the street!

Winter in Wychwood

Wychwood Park’s community centre is humongous! It’s a 60 000 square foot multifaceted building, that features: unite arts and culture, environmental leadership, heritage preservation, urban agriculture, and affordable housing to foster a strong sense of community. Thanks to the company Artscape, it seems that Marmaduke Matthews’ dream of an artists’ colony is finally coming true, over 100 years after his idea was initially thought! To make it even better, this 60 000 square foot building is surrounded by 127 000 square feet of green space!

Other Central Toronto Neighbourhoods: The Annex – Cabbagetown – Queen West Village – Rosedale – Moore Park – North Toronto – Lawrence Park – Hoggs Hollow – Leaside – Summerhill – Regal Heights – Forest Hill – Chaplin Estates – Davisville Village – King West Village – Dovercourt Village