Scenic Harbourfront living meets bustling city life for this Toronto condo’s owners

The backstory

For one group of Toronto kindergarten students, the first day of school involves taking the 8:15 a.m. ferry across the city’s inner harbour, then boarding a school bus for the short ride to Centre Island.

There, the city-side kids join a handful of local residents at Island Public & Natural Science School, where indoor and outdoor classrooms are surrounded by natural grasses, woods, ponds and the waters of Lake Ontario.

Deer, raccoons, swans, ducks and bald eagles are some of the wild creatures the children see on a regular basis.

Martin and Leila Hill were so keen for their sons to begin their education in that rare environment, they moved years in advance to a new home in the catchment area for the school.

“They weren’t even walking at the time,” recalls Mr. Hill of the then 10-month-old twins Simon and Oliver.

The couple had lived for a few years in a high-rise condo tower near Harbourfront. Mr. Hill took up kite sailing at nearby Cherry Beach and joined the crew on his uncle’s sailboat for races from the Royal Canadian Yacht Club.

Mr. and Ms. Hill both appreciated that they could walk to their offices in the financial district.

When they began planning for a future with kids, they purchased a two-level condominium townhouse in the complex known as Number One York Quay.

The townhouse today

The two-bedroom townhouse provides 2,004 square feet of interior space and two south-facing terraces overlooking Lake Ontario.

The boys grew up watching an ever-changing spectacle of planes, helicopters, fireboats and cabin cruisers from the terrace.

“Simon’s first word wasn’t ‘mom,’ it was ‘plane,’” Ms. Hill says with a laugh.

Inside, residents and guests arrive to a foyer with heated floors. The first level has an open concept area combining the kitchen with spaces for lounging and dining.

After several years of living and raising young kids in the unit, the Hills decided to refresh the dated 1990s interior.

In 2022, they installed a sleek new kitchen with stainless-steel appliances, white cabinets and wood accents. A larger island serves as a breakfast bar or a buffet for entertaining.

One corner of the main living area was enclosed by trackless glass doors imported from Italy to create a media room where the boys can watch television or play games while their parents hang out in a more tranquil space next to the living room fireplace.

“We rearranged the space to eliminate the play area and reclaim it for the dining area,” says Ms. Hill.

Throughout the unit, the couple updated windows, installed new wide plank white oak flooring and added built-in cabinets and shelves for storage and display.

They also added insulation to areas facing the outdoors. Solid core doors help to reduce the transfer of sound between various areas when the family of four spreads out.

The boys’ room also has an ensuite bathroom. The unit has a powder room on the main floor and a laundry room on the second floor.

Mr. Hill says condo layouts are often designed to minimize labour costs for the builder.

“When you do your own renovation, you can rethink everything,” he says.

The contemporary and minimalist style was inspired by some time Ms. Hill spent living in Denmark, she says.

The Harbourfront area has seen many changes during the years, the couple says. In the early 2000s, the waterfront was active in the summer months but quite desolate in winter.

Today the area is bustling year-round, they say. New condo towers have risen and businesses have established headquarters in the revitalized east end.

Outdoor spaces on the city side include the two-acre Love Park, which replaced the Gardiner Expressway off-ramp at York Street.

The twins learned to skate at the outdoor rink at Harbourfront Centre.

The couple can now walk to three large grocery stores, along with new coffee shops, restaurants and retailers.

Living so close to the Billy Bishop Toronto City Airport makes attending meetings in various Canadian cities easy for Ms. Hill, who rides her bicycle to the airport, then flies out and back on the same day.

In the summer months, Mr. Hill launches his inflatable paddleboard straight from the boardwalk near the townhouse.

“You can just drop your paddleboard in front of your place and go,” says Ms. Hill.

Simon and Oliver, who are 13 now, graduated from the island school after Grade 6.

Throughout the years, they looked forward to starting their school day with their chaperones and fellow students on the ferry, their parents say. During winter’s deep freeze, the kids loved to have their ferry follow the Toronto Fire Service’s fireboat as it cleared a channel through the ice.

“If you want a no-car lifestyle, there’s no better place in Toronto,” Mr. Hill says.

The best feature

On the second level, the couple refurbished the primary suite with a traditional panelled wall that adds some warmth and texture, Ms. Hill says.

They also renovated the ensuite bathroom with a soaker tub and glass-enclosed shower area. The sleeping area has a space for yoga or reading next to the sloping windows facing the water.

“Every day waking up to that view is so good for you,” Ms. Hill says.