Neighbourhood Spotlight: Princess-Rosethorn

Etobicoke Lifestyle & Community Dave Dubbin July 19, 2026

Princess-Rosethorn might be the most under-the-radar pocket in central Etobicoke, a quiet, leafy square of mid-century homes on big lots tucked between Eglinton, Islington and Martin Grove. If you've never had a reason to drive through it, that's sort of the point. This is the first post in our Neighbourhood Spotlight series, where we take one Etobicoke pocket at a time and tell you what it's actually like to live there.

Own a home in Princess-Rosethorn and curious what it's worth in today's market? Request a free valuation here.

Where exactly is Princess-Rosethorn?

The official boundary is a near-perfect square with one wandering edge. Eglinton Avenue West runs along the north, Islington Avenue along the east, and Martin Grove Road along the west. The southern edge follows Rathburn Road on its western half, then drops south and traces Mimico Creek as the ravine winds down toward Islington. That creek edge is why so many streets in the southeast corner back onto wooded ravine. Inside the line you'll find the pockets locals know as Princess Anne Manor, Princess Gardens, Thorncrest Village, Glen Agar, and Rosethorn.

Schematic map of the Princess-Rosethorn neighbourhood in Etobicoke, bounded by Eglinton Avenue West, Islington Avenue, Rathburn Road, Mimico Creek, and Martin Grove Road

The homes

Freehold houses

Most of the neighbourhood went up between the mid 1950s and mid 1960s: ranch style bungalows, split levels, storey and a half designs, and the odd Georgian revival, set along curved streets that were deliberately designed to keep through traffic out. Lots are one of the area's calling cards, with wide frontages, often in the 50 to 70 foot range, and deep yards. The Princess Anne Manor pocket is known for its sprawling ranch bungalows in particular, and the southeast corner adds ravine lots backing onto Mimico Creek. Some streets are still mostly original, which means renovation opportunity. Others have flipped heavily to full custom rebuilds, and a rebuilt home trades in a completely different bracket than an original, so this area rewards buyers who walk the streets rather than just scroll listings.

Condo apartments

Princess-Rosethorn itself has essentially no condo buildings, and for many owners that's exactly the point. When longtime residents downsize and want to stay close, the usual moves are the condo clusters around Islington City Centre a few minutes south, or the buildings along the Kingsway stretch of Bloor. If a condo search brought you here, those are the pockets to look at next.

Townhouses

Townhomes are nearly as scarce as condos inside the boundary. Buyers set on a townhouse usually end up looking just outside it, toward Eringate to the west or the Islington City Centre corridor to the south, where newer freehold and condo rows offer a middle step between condo and detached.

The price picture

Princess-Rosethorn sits in the upper tier of Etobicoke's detached market, below Kingsway trophy territory but well above the borough average, and the rebuilt homes push past the originals by a wide margin. We ran the actual numbers in our Princess-Rosethorn sales report: 39 homes traded in the first half of 2026, at a median of $1.8 million, from an $880,000 bungalow to a $4 million rebuild. If you want sold data for your specific street, ask and we'll pull it for you.

Green space and recreation

The neighbourhood is generous with green. Lloyd Manor Park, near Kipling and Eglinton, is the big one: a playground plus a wide open field that hosts everything from touch football to kids running off energy after school. Princess Anne Park adds a playground, soccer fields, and pickleball courts. Rosethorn Park serves the south end, and Ravenscrest Park sits down in the wooded ravine along Mimico Creek, with access to the Mimico Creek trail system. Golfers do well here too: St. George's Golf and Country Club is just across Islington, and our Etobicoke golf guide covers the rest of the west end's courses, public and private.

Schools

These are the schools serving Princess-Rosethorn. Catchments do shift from time to time, so confirm your exact address with the board before you make a move that depends on a school boundary.

Rosethorn Junior School (TDSB, kindergarten to Grade 5)
St George's Junior School (TDSB, kindergarten to Grade 5)
John G. Althouse Middle School (TDSB, Grades 6 to 8, on Lloyd Manor Rd inside the neighbourhood)
Martingrove Collegiate Institute (TDSB, Grades 9 to 12)
St. Gregory Catholic School (TCDSB elementary, on Rathburn Rd)
Michael Power/St. Joseph High School (TCDSB secondary, nearby on Eringate Dr)

Shopping and daily life

Two plazas inside the boundary handle most errands. Lloyd Manor Plaza, at Eglinton and Lloyd Manor, has a 24 hour Metro, a Shoppers Drug Mart, an LCBO, banks, medical offices, and takeout. Thorncrest Plaza on Islington is the more charming of the two: a small pie-shaped plaza from the neighbourhood's original 1950s plan, fieldstone facades and all, built for small local businesses and still anchored by a Foodland, a Home Hardware, and a Shoppers. The Kingsway's shops and restaurants are a short drive south. This is a car-first pocket, and most households run two.

Community life

For a quiet neighbourhood, there's more going on than you'd guess. The Thorncrest Homeowners Association is the only homeowners association in Toronto that owns and operates its own clubhouse, 25 metre outdoor pool, and tennis courts, tucked off Thorncrest Road. John G. Althouse doubles as a community school, running sports, music, and arts programs for kids and adults, plus a spring flea market and a summer camp. And the Richview Library, just up Islington, fills out the calendar with workshops and family programming.

Getting downtown

TTC buses along Islington, Martin Grove, Rathburn, and Eglinton connect to Line 2 at Islington and Kipling stations, plus the Kipling GO and MiWay hub. The bigger story is the Eglinton Crosstown West extension being built along the neighbourhood's northern edge. Seven new stops will run west from Mount Dennis, where Line 5 ends today, and three of them, Martin Grove, Kipling, and Islington, sit along or just off Princess-Rosethorn's northern boundary, all underground. We covered what that means for property owners in our post on the four new underground stations.

Diagram of Eglinton Line 5 and the Crosstown West extension stops: Renforth, Martin Grove, Kipling, Islington, Royal York, Scarlett, Jane, and Mount Dennis, with Martin Grove through Islington along Princess-Rosethorn's north edge

Thinking about a move within the west end? Start with these:

Who it suits

Buyers who want land, quiet, and mature trees, and who don't need a subway at the end of the street. Renovators and builders hunting for original bungalows. And longtime owners weighing whether to sell to the rebuild market or renovate and stay. We've worked all three sides of that equation in this pocket.