TORONTO: AN HISTOKICAL SKETCH 



and River on the west to Scarborough Beach on the 

 east, taking in the Harbour and Ashbridge's Bay, and 

 thus having nearly twenty miles of coast-line within 

 the city limits, owing to the semicircular form of the 

 Island and the double coast at Simcoe Park. But 

 when the electric trolley climbed the bluff known to 

 geologists as the " Iroquois shore," less than three 

 miles north of the bay, the development of this lofty 

 and healthy district began, and within three years it 

 has become the most fashionable part of the city. 

 Land which cost eighteen dollars a foot ten years ago 

 is now held at $175, and hundreds of acres have 

 changed hands at even greater advances than this. 

 The average value of the houses on the Avenue Road 

 hill ranges from $12,000 to $15,000. This is with- 

 out taking into account the mansions which line the 

 hill and dominate the city with an unsurpassed dis- 

 tinction of site and variety of type. The old Eng- 

 lish hall, the Norman-French chateau, the Italianate 

 mansion, and the mediaeval castle are all to be found, 

 and so spacious are the grounds surrounding them 

 that there is no sense of incongruity produced by the 

 different styles. The castle of Sir Henry Pellatt, 

 at the head of Walmer Eoad, with its adjacent stables 

 and gardens, will form when completed one of the 

 most magnificent residences on the continent. 



Proud as Torontonians may well be to see such 

 splendid dwellings rising in the city, and to know that 

 they represent in concrete form the result of the busi- 

 ness energy, acumen and executive skill of some of 

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