Known for its exclusive shopping, exquisite dining and celebrity spotting, Yorkville's narrow lanes and tree-lined streets are tucked away from the Toronto hustle and bustle.

Yorkville was subdivided in the 1830's by a prominent brewer named Joseph Bloor and Sheriff William Botsford Jarvis, who also founded the Rosedale neighbourhood. Yorkville was named after the Town of York and was incorporated as a Village in 1853. The initials and trades of Yorkville's first council members are displayed on the Village coat of arms which is now on the tower of the historic Yorkville Fire Hall, located at 34 Yorkville Avenue. Despite being part of a big city, Yorkville has always maintained its own identity. It had gained notoriety first as a hippie haven in the 1960's and then became known as a shopping mecca in the 1980's and 1990's.

Yorkville is one of Toronto's most dynamic neighbourhoods. It is an eclectic mix of luxury condominium buildings, commercial office towers, five-star hotels, theatres, fine dining restaurants, a prestigious shopping district and picture postcard Victorian homes. The transition to Yorkville's quiet residential pocket is gradual, as Victorian houses shift from retail to residential uses in a seamless pattern that is uniquely Yorkville.

Yorkville's gentrified Victorian houses were built mainly between 1870 and 1895. These historical homes exhibit many decorative features, including ornamental brick patterns, gingerbread gables, cast iron fences and richly landscaped gardens. Many of Yorkville's houses are listed on the Toronto Historical Board's Inventory of Heritage Properties.