Made right here in Toronto, like a Canada Goose parka, Ridpath once made the finest furniture. Its chairs were once used by the Queen of England and U.S. presidents.

Mirroring a medieval dwelling in England, built in Tudor Revival style, the Ridpath building has the signature Tudor black timber décor with faux white chalk filling in between, forming a “zebra” pattern. 

When Ridpath’s Furniture started in the 1920’s, furniture was designed as something that one would pass down from generation to generation. Everything was designed to last a lifetime and then some.

The horizontal beams above the store front have detailed illustrative cravings depicting the level of craftmanship from the artisans at Ridpath.

Over the years, Canadian furniture craftsmen from Ridpath, along with others such as Delicraft and R. Huber would create beautiful curves from different materials like oak, rosewood and teak.

The interior space also matched the quality of its products. The 3^rd floor oak room showroom, with ceiling height carved oak paneling throughout, is unlike any other commercial space in Toronto.

When Ridpath’s Furniture closed back in 2011, the newspaper wrote, “It is like suddenly losing an old friend.”

By then, the market has shifted, and the digital age and consumerism have arrived. The household furniture has become more disposable, perhaps only needed to last as long as the lease.

As consumers are willing to trade lower quality for a lot lower price, along with cheap international and invention of flat packed technique, the premium quality of Ridpath is no match for the cut-throat pricing of its rivals from abroad.

As the Ridpath building lives on, maybe the lights inside the Ridpath showroom will turn on again one day.

906 Yonge Street, Yorkville