My recent stroll into Yorkville produced a number of great door finds and today I’m featuring a few more them.
Right next door to the heritage Fire Hall I featured last week, is this gem built in 1906 in what was once considered the northern end of the city. It is now the oldest public library in Toronto.
Walking through the nearby streets, there were so many photo-worthy doors and buildings, including the Heliconian Hall.
It was built in 1876, in what was then a rural area, as the Olivet Congregational Church. It was later purchased in 1923 and renovated as the new home of the Heliconian Club.
This club was formed in 1909 to support women in the arts and provide a forum for women ‘to meet socially and intellectually’. It’s a non-profit organization and the oldest association of its kind in Canada.
I couldn’t help but be reminded of the Alumnae Theatre I featured back in January. Formed 10 years after the Heliconian Club, it too was created to support women in the arts.
The Yorkville area provides an eclectic mix of galleries …
… retail space, offices, and residences.
As I mentioned previously, this is an affluent area and these are expensive properties. A semi-detached home featured in Toronto Life magazine last year sold for $2.8 million.
It might be too expensive for me to live or shop in Yorkville, but it is a pretty area to visit.
Thursday Doors is a weekly photo feature hosted by Norm Frampton at Norm 2.0. Check it out, participate, and fall in love with doors.
My Life Lived Full 
Love the brick work and fabulous details on those homes…very nice…too bad they’re so expensive. 🙂
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In general, affordable housing is becoming an issue here. Sadly, this is just one of the extreme ends.
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Very quaint looking area but I would have never guessed that it was an exclusive neighborhood! You never know.
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House prices are insane here and made even worse closer to the downtown core.
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Mighty handsome range of doors. Love the blue ones. 🙂
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Thank you 🙂 I agree!
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A lovely area to find lovely doors!
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What a lovely area, the blue doors with the herringbone pattern are great. :>)
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Now that you mention it, yes! It’s the pattern of the wood slats that makes the door stand out 🙂
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Always a delight to take a stroll with you Joanne. I especially loved the perspective you chose for the giant pillars as if they might touch the sky. Hope you are having a happy day.
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Glad to have you along, Sue 🙂
The angle of the photo of the library does give the doorway gravitas, doesn’t it? The truth is, the building isn’t that big … but the entrance is bold and proud 🙂
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What a pretty area. I loved that lamp at #49, the doors, and buildings! What a treasure that library is. It’s very stately and grand.
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I was quite captivated by the building at #49 and #51. As you can see, it’s a semi-detached where the 2 owners have taken very different approaches to the exterior look. It should have been an eye-sore but it was so well done it appealed to my sense of the unusual.
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Really beautiful area, no wonder it’s costly. I feel like Ferris Bueller “So Choice” lol 🙂
I love the old Olivet Church — what a stunning display of color and texture. And the bull, charming. And vines… and arches… Yes, a lovely area, thanks for taking us.
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I love it when I can walk through an area and almost give myself whiplash swiveling my head in all directions at once trying to take it all in. That’s what this walk was like 🙂
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I envy your doors! We just don’t have that history here. If I every get back to Toronto, I now have several neighborhoods to visit – and revisit. Next time, we’ll have to plan for a longer stay. And thanks for that book recommendation, Zeus is Dead sounds like something I’d like too.
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Hope you like it. It appeals to my sense of humour 🙂
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Appropriate for women’s day!
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Hmmm – it wasn’t intentional, but now that you mention it …. very appropriate!
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Looks like another neighbourhood I’m going to have to explore on foot the next time we’re there.
The library, those blue doors, the houses, all very pretty stuff. Great post Joanne 🙂
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Thanks Norm 🙂
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So many doors and so beautiful. Today’s doors are just plain and dull in comparison. I always enjoy your photos and descriptions.
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Thanks Annie. It’s fun to discover these hidden gems 🙂
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Yorkville certainly looks like a cool place. I’m a sucker for neoclassical library buildings. And those beautiful houses — swoon!
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Is that what it is, neoclassical? What’s interesting is that the building itself is not very large. It has a very impressive entrance for a rather modestly sized building.
… which makes me think it could be a great children’s story about a building with a Napoleon Complex 😉
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I totally love that idea! And you’ve reminded me that a couple of days ago I saw a poster for our city’s mobile library service which showed a little holiday caravan with the same facade as your library building. It’s interesting because that sort of neo-classical (based on Greek and Roman architecture basically) building is kind of synonymous with learning and rationality — and libraries. Yet pretty much all of Auckland’s library buildings are new and very Modernist. I do like the idea of your story … will you write it?
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Oh, I wish I could. But I’m not a storyteller. I couldn’t even begin to develop the concept 😦
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I know what you mean. I used to imagine that “one day” I’d be a real (e.g. fiction) writer, but I’m just not. I’m comfortable telling “real” stories, but can’t seem to make the leap to inventing them.
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I always thought that one day I would like to write a book too. Then I was hit with the reality of my talent 😉
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🙂 sigh. Me too. I did once manage to write a 40,000 word thesis, but looking at it with hindsight, it’s gibberish and would never have won me a Booker Prize.
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hahaha! I doubt it was gibberish 😉
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You think?
” … this position does not permit that ‘the practices of language, discourse and ideology may have other determinations.’ Thus, by claiming that the theory of the formation of the subject-in-general (as opposed to the historically specific subject) is both adequate and sufficient, no space is left for explanation of differences in ideologies …”
And I was writing about a couple of movies.
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But have you ever noticed that academic language in general is – shall we say, ‘lofty’? 😉
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Hehe. “Lofty”! Love it, although I use the alternative spelling “bulls**t”.
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LOL! Yes, sometimes the alternate spelling is more appropriately used 😀
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So pretty, Joanne. I love that brick house with the cool windows and statuary and vines. 2.8 million is a little out of my budget, but it does look like a great place to walk around and take pictures 🙂
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Yeah – it’s a wee bit outside of my budget too 😉
… but we can still walk the streets and enjoy the view 🙂
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Wow!! Those are some amazing doors and buildings. I love old architecture. There seemed to be so much more thought and detailing put in it. 🙂
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I think that’s what the attraction is – the detail and the workmanship. It sits in direct contrast to the cold, minimalistic modern structures.
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Great doors, excellent photos, beautiful buildings and some interesting history – you packed this full to the brim today, Joanne. I love the doors on the Heliconian Club and the library. I still think we (followers of Norm) should be allowed to remove signs posted on doors, for our photos, but Norm keeps balking at the idea of bail.
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I don’t know about you and other door-seekers, but I get a lot of strange looks when I’m out ‘stalking’ for doors.
It’s not uncommon for people to actually stop and look around while I’m taking photos. I can almost see the questions on their face wondering what is so interesting that I’m taking photos. I’m waiting for the day when someone comes running outside yelling at me 😉
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I’ve been asked once, and pointed to once (that I know of). I haven’t been yelled at yet – fingers crossed 🙂
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Hopefully it will never come to that! 🙂
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I hope not
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Some fabulous facades and a fine Fafard. (The bull.) (The research I put into these quips) 😉
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Holy Bull! You really do put effort into your comments. You had me scratching my head for a while before I realized Fafard was the artist!! Duh! 😀
… but your comment also caused me to discover that Fafard is also a Quebec-based farming supply outlet that sells compost manure. Rather fitting don’t you think? 😉
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I rarely associate your posts with manure, Joanne but yes that is fitting. And by rarely I mean never, obviously 🙂
I fear my comments often lead to head scratching (and search for the unfollow button) but, there is normally method behind them. And by normally I probably mean never, once again 😉
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As usual, you make me laugh … and by ‘as usual’ I mean ‘always’ 😀
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Oh thank you, Joanne 🙂 🙂
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No doors like these around here. Your photos do them all justice, although I’m partial to the funky, vine-y, beveled-glass last door. Trippy!
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I’m quite fond of that one too … mostly because of the transom window above the door 🙂
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There’s a photo on Wikipedia of the Heliconian Club . . . and the doors are gray, not blue. I’m trying to decide which looks more amusing to my muse!
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hmmm – interesting. I hadn’t looked at Wikipedia before I wrote this post, but I just took a look at the Heliconian Club website and their doors are blue.
I think I like the blue better. They stand out more … and who doesn’t love a blue door? 😉
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It looks like an interesting area to stroll through galeries. I particularly love the blue door.
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I think blue doors look very inviting … and yet regal at the same time. Interesting paradox 🙂
I’ve strolled through a few of the galleries in the past – making pretend lists of things I was going to pretend buy 🙂
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I love art galleries, even though I can not afford anything they sell. Like you, I fantasy shop in case I ever might get a bigger wallet.
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Fantasy shopping is the best!! … no limits on our imagination 🙂
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I love being able to enjoy expensive ares for free, Joanne, and in this case, I didn’t even have to fly there, although I would love to see it in person. It’s been years since we were in Toronto, but we always enjoyed our visits there. I like the used-to-be-a-church building and it’s two blue doors. Interesting that there are two doors in the front. As for the expensive homes, Rittenhouse Square in Philadelphia is the same way: a gorgeous area with sky-high prices. But there, too, looking is free. 🙂
janet
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Maybe we should say that a bit quietly for fear that they will find a way to charge admission for visiting 😉
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Shhhhh! You never know who’s snooping.
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😉
… as I’m writing this, I’m listening to the news and the story about WikiLeaks and the CIA hacking of phones and TVs. Sheesh …
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I learn something new with every post you write. Now off to Google Heliconian Club to learn some more! Thanks, Joanne!
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I did the same and learned it was named after Mount Helicon in Greece . . . and its muses.
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You have to love the muses 🙂
I’m reading a great book right now called Zeus is Dead by Michael Munz. He spins the gods and the muses into a very different light in an adventure that is brilliantly written (at least I LOVE it). He’s made me laugh out loud numerous times … somewhat disconcerting when I’m reading on the subway 😉
For example – he has the 3 Fates living on the 2nd floor above a convenience store in Moose Jaw, Saskatchewan. Bwahahahaha!!!
I mention this only because one of the Muses has been playing a major role in the first half of the book. She’s hilarious 😀
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Now you’re making me feel lazy that I didn’t do very much (any) research before I wrote this.
I find it interesting that a community that wouldn’t have been very large at the turn of the 20th century had 2 women’s groups to promote the arts. I’m feeling pretty good about that right now 🙂
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I’m glad that you brought those groups to our attention. As you suggest, in this day and age, not much attention is brought to these sorts of causes.
Not sure, my dear, about the words “lazy” and “Joanne Sisco” appearing in the same sentence. Current comment thread excepted. 😉
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Thanks Maggie {blushing} … I was going to say it was totally undeserved until I reflected on my morning – a 30 minute spin on my bike, 2 loads of laundry, blog post, answering emails, booking an appointment for this afternoon, resolving an issue with my car insurance, feeding the cat (twice) … and it’s only 12:30.
A normal day in the life of …. 😉
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I, too, previously enjoyed strolling the Yorkville streets. I never got my haircut there, nor did I walk away with such amazing photos. More lost opportunities!! Thank you for sharing these.
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I’ve been lucky to eat in a few of the restaurants there in my previous working life. Thankfully I had an expense account and never had to personally pick up the tab 🙂
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Gosh, these are all beautiful, Joanne. If I had a cool $2.8 mill…….
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Oh yes, I can mentally spend that on a lazy afternoon 😉
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Another eclectic collection of doors. Who knewI’d enjoy them this much. Thank you, Joanne.
That’s no bull. 😀 😀 😀
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Don’t you agree that it was an odd place for a bull?! What I didn’t show was that a few doors away was a bear.
Shouldn’t the bull and bear be down at King and Bay? I’m guessing perhaps it would have been too obvious a nod to Wall Street?
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I had no idea about the Bear. You are onto something. Do they have a suggestion box? If not–silly for not thinking straight. 😛 😛
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Great photos! I always enjoyed a stroll through Yorkville when I lived in Toronto. I used to get my hair cut there. There used to be a toy store there. It had a teddy bear outside. He was blowing bubbles down the street. Did you see him on your walk by any chance?
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Oh – I’m pretty sure I would have noticed a teddy bear blowing bubbles!! Perhaps it’s a warmer weather thing … it was bone-chilling cold the day I was there.
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