St. Andrew - Windfields

Ask around and locals will tell you that the region was named for Windfield Farms, E. P. Taylor's Oshawa-area stud farm, where famed thoroughbred Northern Dancer was born. Though there are horse motifs everywhere-metal cut-outs in front of Windfields Junior High, steel horse heads above the bar at Windfield's Restaurant-Taylor lived outside the area's borders (though that doesn't stop real estate agents from claiming otherwise). Agents are keen to portray the area as upper class, but it's not uniformly upscale once you start poking around. Sure, if you hang out on Old Colony Road or Forest Hill Boulevard you'll find some truly impressive houses, but the closer to Yonge Street, the more modest the homes; by the time you get up to Woodsworth on the banks of the mighty 401, they can be downright ramshackle. While there are two major grocery stores, there's no commercial strip, which means socializing and shopping require a drive down Bayview. However, the area is rich in green space and well-regarded institutions, such as York Mills Collegiate Institute and Crescent School.

HOUSING STOCK: The mansions show an extraordinary range of styles, from Georgian stunners and Tudor jaw-droppers to some examples of '60s and '70s modern. Bayview favours the '60s ranch style, York Mills the '40s bungalow. All but a few are well kept and well financed. Windfields' home builders appear to have specialized in the two-storey windowed front hall, the ornate outdoor carriage lamp, the driveway outsized enough to double as a hockey rink, and the doorway un-ironically pillared in classic Greek style.