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Andrea Yu

Andrea Yu is a freelance journalist based in Toronto. She reports on a wide variety of topics including business, real estate, culture, design, health, food, drink and travel. Aside from Toronto Life, her writing has appeared in the Globe and Mail, Chatelaine and Cottage Life.

Latest from Andrea Yu

Surreal Estate: $3 million for a Victorian in Markham with a salt therapy cave and a wine dispenser

Real Estate News

Surreal Estate: $3 million for a Victorian in Markham with a salt therapy cave and a wine dispenser

What farmhouse on a cul-de-sac would be complete without a turtle-shell sink, a coach-house loft, a fridge hiding inside an amp and a nice clock?

Cottage of the Week: $2.2 million for a Blue Mountains escape with a $50,000 credit to a ski club

Real Estate News

Cottage of the Week: $2.2 million for a Blue Mountains escape with a $50,000 credit to a ski club

The 2,200-square-foot property also comes with two guest rooms, two kitchens, a vintage pool table and a playground in a secret garden

House of the Week: $3.8 million for a kooky semi off Mount Pleasant with a hidden wine rack

Real Estate News

House of the Week: $3.8 million for a kooky semi off Mount Pleasant with a hidden wine rack

The 3,200-square-foot property also comes with ’80s verve, a tandem garage, four fireplaces, cathedral ceilings and a backyard covered in vines

Rental of the Week: $19,000 a month for a steakhouse-esque hard loft across the street from the Well

Real Estate News

Rental of the Week: $19,000 a month for a steakhouse-esque hard loft across the street from the Well

The 4,900-square-foot unit is fit for a cigar society and comes with a private elevator to a rotunda, 12-foot ceilings and a spiral staircase in the bedroom

Real Weddings: Inside a luxurious red-themed celebration at the Carlu

Real Weddings: Inside a luxurious red-themed celebration at the Carlu

Featuring a rose-covered chuppah, a custom ring and a private concert

Rental of the Week: $12,000 a month for a Grey County sanctuary that's half bungalow, half loft

Real Estate News

Rental of the Week: $12,000 a month for a Grey County sanctuary that’s half bungalow, half loft

The retreat sits on 100 acres of land and also comes with an enormous glass gable, a bachelor-sized bunkie, private trails and a swimming pond

House of the Week: $6 million for a Georgian looker in Forest Hill built by an HGTV staple

Real Estate News

House of the Week: $6 million for a Georgian looker in Forest Hill built by an HGTV staple

The 4,300-square-foot property sandwiched between Bathurst and the Beltline also comes with a five-car driveway, a nanny suite, a fancy sound system and garden suite potential

Real Weddings: Inside an NHL player and an investment analyst's Muskoka celebration

Real Weddings: Inside an NHL player and an investment analyst’s Muskoka celebration

Featuring a beachside engagement, a tower of espresso martinis and a joyful ceremony in the rain

Micro Weddings: Inside a laid-back west-end bar bash that cost $47,164

Micro Weddings: Inside a laid-back west-end bar bash that cost $47,164

Featuring Serbian pastries, a patio ceremony and late-night Popeyes

Surreal Estate: $1.2 million for a chalet sitting in the middle of a private ski club

Real Estate News

Surreal Estate: $1.2 million for a chalet sitting in the middle of a private ski club

The 1,700-square-foot property also comes with storage for gear, cedar all over, a hot tub and a wood-burning fireplace with a towering chimney

Micro Weddings: Inside a Vatican ceremony that cost $52,225

Micro Weddings: Inside a Vatican ceremony that cost $52,225

Featuring a stunning chapel, Filipino traditions and a picturesque stay in the Dolomites

Real Weddings: Inside a classy celebration at a rustic mill

Real Weddings: Inside a classy celebration at a rustic mill

Featuring a cliffside photoshoot, drag performances, and an all-black dress code

House of the Week: $2.5 million for a Campbellville country home with a grandfather clock and a hot tub

Real Estate News

House of the Week: $2.5 million for a Campbellville country home with a grandfather clock and a hot tub

The 3,100-square-foot property also comes with a coach house, an original door that opens only by skeleton key and an outdoor fireplace

Real Weddings: Inside a regal celebration at a Moroccan estate

Real Weddings: Inside a regal celebration at a Moroccan estate

Featuring belly dancers, fire performances and a bridal palanquin

Before and After: How one designer transformed an old Casa Loma semi into a Victorian-Parisian hybrid

Real Estate News

Before and After: How one designer transformed an old Casa Loma semi into a Victorian-Parisian hybrid

Goodbye, creaky doors, plain kitchen and small bedrooms. Hello, soaring arches, moody conversation starters and a jumbo new main suite

Real Weddings: Inside a Canada's Drag Race star's glamorous celebration

Real Weddings: Inside a Canada’s Drag Race star’s glamorous celebration

Featuring a wedding cake topped with Polaroids, a performance by Sarah Slean and a groom tied with a bow

Condo of the Week: $1.3 million to live in a 112-year-old Riverdale church with 18-foot ceilings

Real Estate News

Condo of the Week: $1.3 million to live in a 112-year-old Riverdale church with 18-foot ceilings

The 1,400-square-foot property also comes with a finished basement, two outdoor spaces, underground parking and a sleek catwalk

Surreal Estate: $6.7 million for a marble mansion in Kleinburg with a turret and four fireplaces

Real Estate News

Surreal Estate: $6.7 million for a marble mansion in Kleinburg with a turret and four fireplaces

The 9,500-square-foot property also comes with walls you can clean with a mop, two garages, a butler’s pantry and a saltwater pool

Cottage of the Week: $10.3 million for a lodge outside Guelph with two ponds and a motocross track

Real Estate News

Cottage of the Week: $10.3 million for a lodge outside Guelph with two ponds and a motocross track

The 6,500-square-foot property also comes with 100 parking spots, a massive artificial waterfall, decks for days and 122 acres of land

Three innovative backyard spaces that make the most out of the entire lot

Real Estate News

Three innovative backyard spaces that make the most out of the entire lot

Featuring a laneway art bunker, a garage turned work-and-play space and a self-contained fitness studio

This designer transformed an under-stair storage space into a kids' play wonderland

This designer transformed an under-stair storage space into a kids’ play wonderland

Kindergarten teacher Vanessa Silva knows how much kids love nooks, so when it came time to renovate her basement, she jumped at the chance to create a dedicated space for her two children

The Chase: A first-time renter leaves the nest to find a home in Corktown

Real Estate News

The Chase: A first-time renter leaves the nest to find a home in Corktown

After working at a software company for a year, Tracy Pham had the financial confidence to leave her parents’ place in midtown. So she set a budget of $2,200 a month and started her search

Real Weddings: Inside a destination ceremony at an Irish castle

Real Weddings: Inside a destination ceremony at an Irish castle

Featuring a handfasting ceremony, Irish wolfhounds and two vintage wedding dresses

Cottage of the Week: $2.3 million for a country club–like getaway with a tennis court flanked by fruit trees

Real Estate News

Cottage of the Week: $2.3 million for a country club–like getaway with a tennis court flanked by fruit trees

The 10-acre property also comes with a one-bedroom pool house, two sunrooms, cathedral ceilings and a dense forest

Summer Camp Guide

Summer Camp Directory 2026

Summer Camp Directory 2026

Discover our top-rated summer camps for kids of all ages

Best New Restaurants

Toronto Life ’s Best Restaurants returns for its 10th-anniversary edition on June 8

Toronto Life’s Best Restaurants returns for its 10th-anniversary edition on June 8

General admission tickets are now on sale for Toronto’s biggest culinary night, featuring top chefs, restaurants and drinks

Big Stories

These are Toronto’s best new restaurants of 2026

These are Toronto’s best new restaurants of 2026

This year’s list includes a 150-square-foot omakase counter, a Parisian brasserie in the Annex, Korean comfort food, Filipino karaoke and a Summerhill seafood spot that’s reinventing the raw bar

Hoop Dreams: Inside the making of the Toronto Tempo, the city’s newly assembled WNBA team

Hoop Dreams: Inside the making of the Toronto Tempo, the city’s newly assembled WNBA team

After years of false starts, months of nail-biting negotiations between the league and the players’ union, and an 11th-hour scramble to build a roster, Toronto finally has its own major-league women’s basketball team. Now it just has to live up to the hype

Live From New York: Inside the slay-or-be-slayed world of Studio 8H with SNL rookie Veronika Slowikowska

Live From New York: Inside the slay-or-be-slayed world of Studio 8H with SNL rookie Veronika Slowikowska

Slowikowska is the first Canadian to join the cast of Saturday Night Live in more than 25 years. She’s also this season’s breakout star. Now all she has to do is keep crushing it

Better Call Deepak: Meet drug lord Ryan Wedding’s self-styled cocaine lawyer

Better Call Deepak: Meet drug lord Ryan Wedding’s self-styled cocaine lawyer

The man who represented the infamous drug lord is unapologetically flashy—he has a Lamborghini and two Maseratis and wears $1,200 Louboutins. But did he become an accomplice to his client’s crimes? Deepak Paradkar says he was just doing his job. The FBI says he crossed a line

The Redemption Tour: The Blue Jays are back. Can they finish what they started?

The Redemption Tour: The Blue Jays are back. Can they finish what they started?

We’re not over it, but they are. Six months after that devastating defeat, the Jays take the field once more, bent more than ever on winning the World Series. Dispatches from the dugout

My Life as a True Crime Spectacle: My father’s crimes fractured our family. Then came the press

My Life as a True Crime Spectacle: My father’s crimes fractured our family. Then came the press

My dad was the infamous Rolex Killer. The news of his crimes nearly broke me. And ever since, my family has been hounded by reporters, podcasters and true crime fanatics—a whole new circle of hell

Robby on the Line: Out and about with Robby Hoffman, comedy’s equal opportunity assassin

Robby on the Line: Out and about with Robby Hoffman, comedy’s equal opportunity assassin

Larry David is the indisputable king of brutal honesty. But if anyone comes close, it’s Robby Hoffman, the suddenly everywhere comic from whom no group is safe

Notes on an Academic Scandal: Why did TMU demote a leading advocate of DEI?

Notes on an Academic Scandal: Why did TMU demote a leading advocate of DEI?

Pamela Sugiman, a former arts dean at Toronto Metropolitan University, was a key player in the school’s push for diversity, equity and inclusion. When the backlash against DEI arrived, she was demoted. The school says it was a coincidence. She disagrees

City of Renters: The dream of home ownership isn’t dead. Maybe it should be?

City of Renters: The dream of home ownership isn’t dead. Maybe it should be?

Scenes from the rent-for-life revolution

This generation was pummelled by Covid high school. Now the job market wants to replace them with AI

This generation was pummelled by Covid high school. Now the job market wants to replace them with AI

It’s hard out here for a 20-something

The High Price of Hope: Inside Toronto’s white-hot fertility market

The High Price of Hope: Inside Toronto’s white-hot fertility market

Desperate wannabe parents are betting their life savings on unproven treatments and false promises

Man vs. Machine: ChatGPT caused him to spiral into delusion. Now he’s suing OpenAI

Man vs. Machine: ChatGPT caused him to spiral into delusion. Now he’s suing OpenAI

Last spring, a chatbot convinced Allan Brooks that he had discovered a revolutionary mathematical theory. He says it nearly destroyed him

Smart City: 20 mind-blowing Toronto inventions that are changing the world

Smart City: 20 mind-blowing Toronto inventions that are changing the world

Homegrown innovations that will transform lives for the better

293 Days Without My Son: I gave up everything to rescue my kidnapped child from my abusive husband

293 Days Without My Son: I gave up everything to rescue my kidnapped child from my abusive husband

When Valentino was abducted, I knew three things: he’d been taken by his father, he was somewhere in India and I would not rest until I found him

The Violent Life of a Tow Truck Driver: How an unremarkable profession turned Toronto into a war zone

The Violent Life of a Tow Truck Driver: How an unremarkable profession turned Toronto into a war zone

The towing industry has been hijacked by criminals and kingpins who fleece customers, beat up dissenters and shoot their enemies. Inside the brutal turf war for the city’s wrecks

Street Fight: Inside the battle raging over Toronto multiplexes

Street Fight: Inside the battle raging over Toronto multiplexes

If this city stands any chance of solving the housing crisis, it will need buildings with multiple units in residential neighbourhoods—a move that has many residents saying, “Anywhere but here!”

Young and Retired: Meet the super-savers quitting work decades before the average Canadian

Young and Retired: Meet the super-savers quitting work decades before the average Canadian

In the age of doomspending, these ultra-driven Torontonians give up their weekends, work multiple jobs and never, ever eat out. The upside: they’ll retire long before the rest of us

Just Listed

For Sale: 171 Durant Ave

For Sale: 171 Durant Ave

This rare property features 2 houses on 1 lot

For Sale: 50 First Avenue

For Sale: 50 First Avenue

A testament to time presiding over one of Uxbridge's most storied streetscapes, this magnificently preserved circa 1880 residence commands its prominent corner lot with the quiet confidence of a true architectural landmark

For Sale: 7 Bentley Drive

For Sale: 7 Bentley Drive

A commanding architectural statement in prestigious Stonegate–Queensway, this newly completed custom residence by Bali Homes Group presents a refined interpretation of contemporary luxury living

For Sale: 75 Queen Street

For Sale: 75 Queen Street

Guelph is having a moment

For Sale: 112 Mildenhall Rd

For Sale: 112 Mildenhall Rd

A rare opportunity to own a custom-built masterpiece in the heart of Lawrence Park beautifully designed by Gray Smith and Arca Design for the most discerning buyer