Old Mill Toronto

The Old Mill Toronto is an event venue with a boutique hotel, spa and restaurant, in The Kingsway neighbourhood of Toronto, Ontario, Canada. It includes facilities for business meetings, conferences, special celebrations and weddings, with an on-site chapel and wedding garden. Its restaurant has served afternoon tea since it opened in 1914, and it is also well known for the Sunday family brunch and dinner buffets.

This article is about the hotel and event venue. For the surrounding neighbourhood, see Old Mill, Toronto.

Old Mill Toronto
The Old Mill in 2009
General information
Address21 Old Mill Road
Town or cityToronto, Ontario
CountryCanada
Coordinates43°39′3″N 79°29′36″W
Opened
  • July 28, 1914 (tea room)
  • October 2001 (hotel)
OwnerOMT Hospitality Inc.
Other information
Number of rooms57
Number of restaurants1
Facilitiesjazz bar, wedding chapel, spa, meeting rooms, restaurant, flower shop
Website
oldmilltoronto.com

It is located at 21 Old Mill Road off Bloor Street, overlooking the Humber River along 2.5 hectares. The Old Mill subway station is a short distance away.

History
Old grist mill later incorporated into Old Mill Inn

The Old Mill is near the site of Toronto's first sawmill,[1] built c. 1793.[2] A series of mill complexes were built on the site and destroyed by fire. The last one was built in 1848 by William Tyrell and burned down in 1881.[3]

The Old Mill Tea Garden restaurant was founded by Robert Home Smith in 1914, next to the ruins of an old grist mill on the Humber River. It was part of the Kingsway residential development by Smith.

Over the ensuing decades, 16 banquet rooms were added. In the 1980s, a wedding chapel was built in the old grist mill's ruins. A hotel and spa opened in October 2001, with 45 rooms and 13 suites. The addition cost approximately CA$20 million to build.[4]

The Tea Garden was a place for dancing to big band music in the 1920s, and still today this tradition carries on.[5] It was designated as a heritage property in 1983 by the former city of Etobicoke and retains that designation with Toronto.[6] An historical plaque of Étienne Brûlé is near the main entrance.[7]

It has changed owners three times, and was bought by the Kalmar family in 1991.[5] In 2015, the property was sold to OMT Hospitality.[8]

References
  1. Siemiemik, Christine (July 16, 2001). "City's first sawmill now site of luxury hotel [Old Mill]". Toronto Business Journal. p. 9.
  2. Wild, Denise. "Traveler: see saw the Old Mill Toronto". Flare. No. June 2002. p. 32.
  3. "Old Mill photographs and plaques". torontoplaques.com.
  4. "A new spin at Old Mill: Toronto landmark spoils guests with spa treatments". Toronto Star. January 3, 2002. p. X22.
  5. Stokes, Deborah (September 25, 2004). "Boutiques embrace the old and new". National Post. p. PT2.
  6. "21 OLD MILL RD". Toronto Heritage Properties Inventory. City of Toronto. Retrieved December 3, 2008.
  7. Étienne Brûlé plaque
  8. Melissa Renwick (July 17, 2015). "Old Mill, new owners". Toronto Star. Retrieved August 1, 2015.


This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.