The Junior League of Toronto Showhouse™ rallies the generosity of Toronto's finest designers, suppliers, corporate sponsors and boutique and café vendors to restore a Toronto landmark home; opens it to the public for three weeks; and thus forges community action and cooperation towards a charitable purpose.

Since 1983, the Junior League of Toronto has transformed seven landmark Toronto homes, with proceeds from each directed to much needed community projects and Junior League of Toronto programs.

Over the past twenty-five years, Junior League of Toronto Showhouses have generated over $1.6 million for worthy causes that have touched the lives of many.

The Junior League Gets Behind an Idea

In January of 1982, Mr. David Rollins, a partner at Rollins Raeburn Interior Design Inc. and a vice president of The Interior Designers of Ontario (now ARIDO) invited the Junior League of Toronto to participate in a Designer Showcase. After investigating many successful Showcases in the United States, Mr. Rollins concluded that the necessary ingredients required were a special piece of property, a high standard of quality, and a dedicated group of volunteers. The League's determined volunteers teamed up with the I.D.O. to restore the magnificent McLean House and the first Junior League of Toronto Showhouse™ was born.

The site of the second Junior League of Toronto Showhouse™ was Valley Halla, the country estate of the late Dr. Robert Jackson. In partnership with the Metropolitan Toronto Zoo this magnificent home was showcased in 1985. It has been designated a landmark home under the terms of the Ontario Heritage Act.

In 1989, George Brown House, owned by the Father of Confederation, was "lent" to the Junior League of Toronto by the Ontario Heritage Foundation and enabled visitors to experience a piece of Toronto history. 

Ronald McDonald House was arguably the most ambitious project. The building of this house represented a lengthy collaboration between Children's Oncology Care of Ontario Inc., Ronald McDonald House Children's Charities and the Junior League of Toronto.

The Bob Rumball Centre for the Deaf was selected for the fifth Junior League of Toronto Showhouse™ in 1996. This beautifully restored manor continues to be used as an office and hostel as well as a training and hospitality centre for the deaf. In Reverend Rumball's words, the Junior League of Toronto Showhouse™ "made the invisible handicap visible."

The site of the sixth Junior League of Toronto Showhouse™ was Graydon Hall, a Georgian revival manor originally owned by Canadian financier Rupert Bain. The home was restored to the elegance of a grand English manor.

Glendon Hall, built in 1924 by E.R. Wood and bequeathed to the University of Toronto in 1950, and subsequently donated to York University in 1961, was the location of the most recent Junior League of Toronto Showhouse™ in 2004. It was only fitting that the proceeds of more than $360,000 from this event would support several educational programs for students in Regent Park through The Pathways to Education™ Program.