Heritage Toronto

Postcard, Selby Hotel, Sherbourne Street, Toronto, Ontario, c. 1940. Image: City of Toronto Archives.

Sherbourne Street facing Selby Street, with the Gooderham Mansion at left, 1972. Image: City of Toronto Archives.

Advertisement for the Selby Hotel, The Body Politic, No. 125, November, 1985. Courtesy of the ArQuives.

The Selby, Sherbourne Street, Toronto, 2018. Image: Nathan Cyprys.

The Selby

A Gooderham Family Home

Known by many names over its history, this impressive red-brick home at 592 Sherbourne Street was built for Henry Folwell Gooderham, a member of Toronto’s influential Gooderham family. Designed and built by Toronto architect David Roberts Junior, it is a grand example of the Queen Anne Revival style, with an asymmetrical profile, intricate detailing, and limestone accents. Only a few years after it was built Gooderham sold the house to his brother Charles Gooderham, who occupied the building until his death in 1904.

After 1904, the house was altered to suit several purposes over the next century: from private school to public hotel, but never again a single-family residence.

1 / 5 (use arrows at bottom right to navigate)
The Selby

A Multi-Use Space

In 1913, the former Gooderham Mansion was was sold and converted into a hotel, known as the Selby. Initially, the hotel operated as a private hostel that catered to elderly women and it became a public hotel in 1920.

Ernest Hemingway briefly stayed at the Selby Hotel with his wife Hadley following their move to Toronto in the 1920s. Working as a foreign correspondent for the Toronto Star in the 1920s, Hemingway was away from Toronto on assignment in October 1923 when Hadley gave birth to their first son John Hadley Nicanor Hemingway (1923-2000) at the nearby Wellesley Hospital on Sherbourne Street. The Hemingways’ stay at the Selby and in Toronto was brief: the family returned to the United States following Hemingway’s resignation from the Star in January 1924.

2 / 5 (use arrows at bottom right to navigate)
The Selby

A Community Gathering Space

During its many years as a hotel, the Selby became a fixture in Toronto’s LBGTQ2S+ community. In 1981, only a few months after the Bathhouse Raids (February 1981), the hotel’s downstairs bar became Boots, a popular dance club. Located only a few minutes walk from the Church-Wellesley Village, the Selby remained an important safe space for the LGBTQ2S+ community for several decades.

In the 1990s, the Selby opened additional lounges and invited local DJs to perform, with crowds of over 2000 often packing the dance floor at Boots on weekend nights. Boots closed several years later, following the sale of the Selby to Nazir and Anish Akbarali, who converted the hotel into a Howard Johnson Hotel.

3 / 5 (use arrows at bottom right to navigate)
The Selby

A Building Transformed

Tricon Residential and ERA Architects purchased the property at 592 Sherbourne in 2014 with an aim of restoring the grand residence as part of a larger redevelopment project. Along with an attached fifty-storey, upscale, purpose-built rental development that opened in November 2018, portions of the mansion were converted to retail space, including Maison Selby, a French bistro by Oliver & Bonacini, as well as Sous Sol, a cocktail bar. The restoration project was nominated for the 2019 Heritage Toronto Awards.

4 / 5 (use arrows at bottom right to navigate)
The Selby

Further Reading

–“The Selby: Celebrating a unique heritage,” Heritage Toronto (2020).

–Denise Benson, “Then & Now: Boots,” Then & Now: Toronto Nightlife History (December 3, 2014), thenandnow.com

5 / 5 (use arrows at bottom right to navigate)

The Selby

A Gooderham Family Home

The Selby

A Multi-Use Space

The Selby

A Community Gathering Space

The Selby

A Building Transformed

The Selby

Further Reading

Stay informed.

Presenting Sponsors