Looking southeast towards the Pembroke Inn, formerly the Pembroke Hotel, located at 117 Pembroke St in the Garden District of Toronto.
Historical city maps show that a house first appeared at the site in 1858, where William Elliot, a druggist, resided. He later expanded the Victorian-era house into a 2½-storey structure. By 1885, it was home to Mr. William Falconbridge, a lawyer, who lived there until the mid-1890s. The house had various occupants after this, and further expansions were made over the years.
In 1945, the property was converted into the Allan Gate Apartments, and a year later, it became the Pembroke Hotel. However, in 1974, a fire broke out in the hotel, which had been vacant for a number of years. In the late 1970s, it was once again listed as apartments and was later renamed Pembroke Residence.
More recently, the hotel operated as a Knights Inn. In 2019, it was rebranded as the Pembroke Inn, a budget-friendly boutique hotel with an arts theme, featuring 50 rooms.
Since 2021, the house has been listed on the city’s heritage register as part of the Garden District Heritage Conservation District.
Then and Now
SOURCE
- City of Toronto Heritage Register
- Heritage Toronto
- Ontario Heritage Trust
- Pembroke Inn: Property Information
- The Globe and Mail Newspaper Archives: Mar 15, 1974, page 4
- Photo: Denise Marie for TorontoJourney416
- City of Toronto: Maps
- Toronto City Directory courtesy of Toronto Public Library
