Having been here a few times before, this place seemed to be forever under renovation.

Recently, all the scaffolding has been removed and finally the beautiful stone façade is revealed. Hidden behind the woods, this house evokes the English country manor vibe.

Now part of Canadian Film Centre, it is hard to believe this 20-acre estate used to be even bigger, at a whopping 200 acres.

Windfields Estate was the former home of Canadian financier Edward Plunkett “E.P.” Taylor, who commissioned the building of the house in the 1930s. He was also a well known breeder of champion racehorses. After his passing, his family continued to live on the estate until the late 1980’s.

In 1936, he commissioned architect Ian Jocelyn Davidson to design the main house and adjoining stables. Built in the Georgian Revival style, the house features a Palladian window in the front-facing gable and a swan’s-neck pediment above the entrance.

The estate consists of multiple trials, worker cottages, its own Victorian style green house and stables. It even has its own river, Wilket creek running through the middle.

This 8-hectare site was one of the first to be developed following the 1929 extension of Bayview Avenue north from Eglinton Avenue East. In 1946, architect Earle C. Morgan produced the designs for the gatehouse, greenhouse, and the three workers’ cottages.

After the Taylor family vacated the property, CFC (Canadian Film Centre) founder Norman Jewison contacted E.P.’s son, Charles Taylor, and persuaded the Taylor family to let the CFC operate at Windfields Estate

2489 Bayview Avenue

Video of Windfields Estate (Source, YouTube / Gary Somewhere)