John F. Taylor House 1885

This house was built for prominent businessman John F. Taylor, a descendant of one of East York's founding families. Designed in the Queen Anne Revival style by Toronto architect David B. Dick, the residence features an asymmetrical design, distinctive corner tower, and shaped gables. Taylor and his brothers inherited the family's brewery and paper mill (York Paper Mill, later Todmorden Mills). In 1889, they founded the Don Valley Pressed Brick Company (later Don Valley Brickworks), which is visible from this property. When the United Church of Canada purchased this site in 1930, it adapted the building for use as the Ina Grafton Gage Home for the Aged, which operated here for 80 years. In 2013, the house was preserved as part of the conversion of this site into a private residence for the Sisters of St. Joseph.