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Everyone loves a rebel, or at least Toronto’s grateful citizens of the 1850s did when they purchased this Georgian gas-lit showplace for William Lyon Mackenzie. Foremost a Canadian journalist and politician, Mackenzie became Toronto’s first mayor in 1834. While his first visit to England in 1832 to present the Reform movement’s grievances to the cabinet had little effect, his 1837 armed rebellion against the ruling elite ended in his hasty departure to the U.S.  Mackenzie’s message, “power to the people”, didn’t sit well with the British appointed officials.

Eventually, the renegade Mackenzie received an official pardon and returned home to Canada. He and his family moved into the house on Bond Street when he retired from politics in 1859. Today the house stands alone. And though it withstood the wrecking ball in the 1930s, the neighboring quarters of this three-house row house were less fortunate.

From the moment you pass the fence and walk along the manicured lawn, you’ll appreciate this architectural rarity. Incidentally, very few homes were set back from the street by lawn. Once inside the vestibule, you must climb a flight of stairs to the raised parlor. Here, Mackenzie and friends would gather to rehash the latest political scene.