A Tour of Ford Country: the 13 notable places that gave rise to our divisive, duplicitous mayor
Etobicoke is a study in contrasts, a not-quite-suburb where extreme wealth and persistent poverty often share the same street. No one straddles these two worlds more comfortably than Rob Ford, a rich kid with a working-class sensibility. Here, we map out the notable places that gave rise to our divisive, duplicitous mayor
233 Edenbridge Drive
Among the mansions of Humber Valley Village, one of Etobicoke’s ritziest neighbourhoods, sits Rob Ford’s modest yet surprisingly valuable white-brick house (last assessed at $888,000). The average household income in the area is $165,390, and 43 per cent of the population speaks a native language other than English, the most common being Italian, Ukrainian and Polish.
280 Scarlett Road
A mere 350 metres from Ford’s house, this Esso Station and Tim Hortons is his favourite place to pick up Gatorade and coffee. Also where Ford’s north Etobicoke buddy, Sandro Lisi, would surreptitiously leave packages in Ford’s Escalade.
15 Trehorne Drive
Scarlett Heights Entrepreneurial Academy, Ford’s old high school, where he urinated on a tree next to the parking lot during one of his many meetings with Sandro Lisi. The student population here is mostly working-class. EQAO scores are low to middling, and the Fraser Institute ranks it 628th out of 725 schools in Ontario. By comparison, rival Richview Collegiate, just around the corner, ranks 67th and has an average parental income of $143,500.
15 Weston Wood Road
The $1.3-million home of the mayor’s mother, Diane Ford, and her rarely seen son Randy. The site of Ford Fests from the 1990s to 2012. On November 1, the day after Chief Blair’s press conference confirming the existence of the crack video, Rob, Doug and Randy met here to hash out a plan.
6 Tettenhall Road
The $1.7-million home of Doug Ford, his wife Karla, and their four daughters, Krista (of Lingerie Football fame), Kayla, Kara and Kyla, is in the Princess-Rosethorn neighbourhood. The average detached house goes for $1.3 million.
1521 Royal York Road
One of the entrances to Douglas Ford Park is right next to Diane Ford’s house. This is where Rob Ford met Sandro Lisi last August to drink Purple Jesuses (Iceberg vodka and Tropicana grape juice) in a quiet wooded area away from prying eyes. The main entrance, off Royal York, is where the Fords hope to install a new playground, for which they’re currently raising money. They’ve already ponied up $25,000.
5 Madill Street
The Lisi residence, where Sandro lives with his parents, Antonio and Celia, is located in the north Etobicoke swath of Kingsview Village-The Westway—not far from the infamous Basso house. The sprawling neighbourhood is the heart of working-class Etobicoke (average household income, $65,933), and the population is primarily Somali, Italian, Spanish and Persian.
320, 330, 340 and 390 Dixon Road
These four high-rise buildings were the focus of the pre-dawn Project Traveller raids last June. Many of the arrests were made at 320 Dixon, the alleged home base of the Dixon City Bloods. The apartment complex is in the heart of Little Mogadishu, home to one of the largest Somali populations in the country.
26 and 28 Greensboro Drive
Deco Labels and Tags, the source of the Ford family’s wealth, is located in an Etobicoke industrial park beside the 401. The company celebrated its 50th anniversary in 2012, for which the city quickly repaired the culvert and fixed potholes in the street (to the tune of about $10,000) to improve curb appeal for the party.
1668 Islington Avenue
Etobicoke is home to a disproportionate number of fancy golf clubs, and St. George’s Golf and Country Club may be the most prestigious. Founded in 1929 as the golf course for the Royal York Hotel, St. George’s has hosted several Canadian Opens, the most recent in 2010. It was also the location of Rob and Renata Ford’s wedding in 2000.
15 Windsor Road
The notorious photo of Ford with Anthony Smith, Monir Kassim and Mohammad Khattak was shot in front of the garage door of the home of the Basso siblings, Elena, Fabio and Mario. Late one night last May, after news reports surfaced of a video of Ford smoking crack, a man forced his way through the door and beat Fabio and his girlfriend with a steel pipe.
111 Disco Road
The maximum-security Toronto West Detention Centre is where Kathy Ford’s former common-law partner, Scott MacIntyre, was viciously beaten by fellow inmates after threatening to go public with information about the family. And on March 25, well after visiting hours, Rob Ford popped by to visit his friend Bruno Bellissimo, who was awaiting trial on charges of assaulting his parents. Ford was denied entry.
555 Rexdale Boulevard
Woodbine Racetrack is home to thoroughbred events (the Queen’s Plate and Breeders’ Stakes), as well as off-track betting and slots. The Ford brothers are hoping it will also one day be a full-service casino. Rob knows the area well: before getting married, he spent a decade living at 600 Rexdale—directly across the street from the track.
![](http://www.facebook.com/sharer.php?u=https://torontolife.com/city/a-tour-of-ford-country/&title=A Tour of Ford Country: the 13 notable places that gave rise to our divisive, duplicitous mayor&picture=https://torontolife.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/01/ford-country-01.jpg&description=Etobicoke is a study in contrasts, a not-quite-suburb where extreme wealth and persistent poverty often share the same street. No one straddles these two worlds more comfortably than Rob Ford, a rich kid with a working-class sensibility. Here, we map out the notable places that gave rise to our divisive, duplicitous mayor
[caption id="attachment_375157" align="alignnone" width="1600"] (Image: Daniel Neuhaus)[/caption]
233 Edenbridge Drive
Among the mansions of Humber Valley Village, one of Etobicoke’s ritziest neighbourhoods, sits Rob Ford’s modest yet surprisingly valuable white-brick house (last assessed at $888,000). The average household income in the area is $165,390, and 43 per cent of the population speaks a native language other than English, the most common being Italian, Ukrainian and Polish.
[caption id="attachment_375158" align="alignnone" width="1600"] (Image: Daniel Neuhaus)[/caption]
280 Scarlett Road
A mere 350 metres from Ford’s house, this Esso Station and Tim Hortons is his favourite place to pick up Gatorade and coffee. Also where Ford’s north Etobicoke buddy, Sandro Lisi, would surreptitiously leave packages in Ford’s Escalade.
[caption id="attachment_375159" align="alignnone" width="1600"] (Image: Daniel Neuhaus)[/caption]
15 Trehorne Drive
Scarlett Heights Entrepreneurial Academy, Ford’s old high school, where he urinated on a tree next to the parking lot during one of his many meetings with Sandro Lisi. The student population here is mostly working-class. EQAO scores are low to middling, and the Fraser Institute ranks it 628th out of 725 schools in Ontario. By comparison, rival Richview Collegiate, just around the corner, ranks 67th and has an average parental income of $143,500.
[caption id="attachment_375160" align="alignnone" width="1600"] (Image: Daniel Neuhaus)[/caption]
15 Weston Wood Road
The $1.3-million home of the mayor’s mother, Diane Ford, and her rarely seen son Randy. The site of Ford Fests from the 1990s to 2012. On November 1, the day after Chief Blair’s press conference confirming the existence of the crack video, Rob, Doug and Randy met here to hash out a plan.
[caption id="attachment_375161" align="alignnone" width="1600"] (Image: Daniel Neuhaus)[/caption]
6 Tettenhall Road
The $1.7-million home of Doug Ford, his wife Karla, and their four daughters, Krista (of Lingerie Football fame), Kayla, Kara and Kyla, is in the Princess-Rosethorn neighbourhood. The average detached house goes for $1.3 million.
[caption id="attachment_375162" align="alignnone" width="1600"] (Image: Daniel Neuhaus)[/caption]
1521 Royal York Road
One of the entrances to Douglas Ford Park is right next to Diane Ford’s house. This is where Rob Ford met Sandro Lisi last August to drink Purple Jesuses (Iceberg vodka and Tropicana grape juice) in a quiet wooded area away from prying eyes. The main entrance, off Royal York, is where the Fords hope to install a new playground, for which they’re currently raising money. They’ve already ponied up $25,000.
[caption id="attachment_375163" align="alignnone" width="1600"] (Image: Daniel Neuhaus)[/caption]
5 Madill Street
The Lisi residence, where Sandro lives with his parents, Antonio and Celia, is located in the north Etobicoke swath of Kingsview Village-The Westway—not far from the infamous Basso house. The sprawling neighbourhood is the heart of working-class Etobicoke (average household income, $65,933), and the population is primarily Somali, Italian, Spanish and Persian.
[caption id="attachment_375164" align="alignnone" width="1600"] (Image: Daniel Neuhaus)[/caption]
320, 330, 340 and 390 Dixon Road
These four high-rise buildings were the focus of the pre-dawn Project Traveller raids last June. Many of the arrests were made at 320 Dixon, the alleged home base of the Dixon City Bloods. The apartment complex is in the heart of Little Mogadishu, home to one of the largest Somali populations in the country.
[caption id="attachment_375165" align="alignnone" width="1600"] (Image: Daniel Neuhaus)[/caption]
26 and 28 Greensboro Drive
Deco Labels and Tags, the source of the Ford family’s wealth, is located in an Etobicoke industrial park beside the 401. The company celebrated its 50th anniversary in 2012, for which the city quickly repaired the culvert and fixed potholes in the street (to the tune of about $10,000) to improve curb appeal for the party.
[caption id="attachment_375166" align="alignnone" width="1600"] (Image: Daniel Neuhaus)[/caption]
1668 Islington Avenue
Etobicoke is home to a disproportionate number of fancy golf clubs, and St. George’s Golf and Country Club may be the most prestigious. Founded in 1929 as the golf course for the Royal York Hotel, St. George’s has hosted several Canadian Opens, the most recent in 2010. It was also the location of Rob and Renata Ford’s wedding in 2000.
[caption id="attachment_375167" align="alignnone" width="1600"] (Image: Daniel Neuhaus)[/caption]
15 Windsor Road
The notorious photo of Ford with Anthony Smith, Monir Kassim and Mohammad Khattak was shot in front of the garage door of the home of the Basso siblings, Elena, Fabio and Mario. Late one night last May, after news reports surfaced of a video of Ford smoking crack, a man forced his way through the door and beat Fabio and his girlfriend with a steel pipe.
[caption id="attachment_375168" align="alignnone" width="1600"] (Image: Daniel Neuhaus)[/caption]
111 Disco Road
The maximum-security Toronto West Detention Centre is where Kathy Ford’s former common-law partner, Scott MacIntyre, was viciously beaten by fellow inmates after threatening to go public with information about the family. And on March 25, well after visiting hours, Rob Ford popped by to visit his friend Bruno Bellissimo, who was awaiting trial on charges of assaulting his parents. Ford was denied entry.
[caption id="attachment_375169" align="alignnone" width="1600"] (Image: Daniel Neuhaus)[/caption]
555 Rexdale Boulevard
Woodbine Racetrack is home to thoroughbred events (the Queen’s Plate and Breeders’ Stakes), as well as off-track betting and slots. The Ford brothers are hoping it will also one day be a full-service casino. Rob knows the area well: before getting married, he spent a decade living at 600 Rexdale—directly across the street from the track.){kind=link}
Great posting
What is there to say except super affluent mayor lives in same super affluent neighborhood with his super affluent brother and super affluent mother and they are just the same ordinary folks you meet on the street everyday
Karla
Krista
Kayla
Kara
Kyla.
FFS. What a douchy family.
Rob Ford for Prime Minister!!!!!!!!
I find this article very disturbing, some of the personal information should remain private unless if you want to dig it yourself. I hope Toronto Life step up to any legal liabilities, god forbids, if some wackos use this information in an irresponsible way.
Whether one support or can’t stand the sight of Mayor Ford, I think Toronto Life should follow some journalistic ethics for everyone safety. This reminds me of the movie “Die Hard” starring Bruce Willis and especially the journalist, who have the right to his journalistic view but he did not consider the safety of others.
What on earth are you talking about? There’s nothing unethical about stating facts, something Ford himself seems averse to.
Do you want to know all the addresses of others (I am not talking about Mayor Ford) who might be innocent, just because they crossed lines with Mayor Ford..
Why have I never seen a posting of the home of Mayor Miller that happens to be more valuable than Ford’s. I hope Ford goes to jail and we are rid of him but Miller was a Bay St. Lawyer and his wife is also a lawyer and they are wealthy by anyone’s standards.
Crack video, drunken stupours, “I’m just a regular guy like you” ad nauseum.
The only one that might be remotely controversial here is Lisi’s. Let’s be a little realistic though, it’s on 411 and there are only a few Lisis in Etobicoke so it would take a few minutes to find it.
Half of them are institutional or commercial addresses (do we really need to suppress the location of an Esso station, or a prison that happens to be a well known local landmark?) , Deco and the Family Complex on Weston Wood- that’s where Ford Fest has traditionally been held – are no secret, nor is 15 Windsor or 320 Dixon, or the Mayor’s house itself. Doug Ford’s – in fact, any Toronto political candidate’s – home address can be found on their [public domain] campaign documents.
You had proved my point, you taken the time to research all these places. Ford’s brother, and Lisi haven’t been found guilty of anything yet just guilty by association. Even the Esso station, the school or Ford’s family business can be a target of vigilante who had other intentions.
I think the story can still be delivered with the same message without all these addresses or unnecessary information. Thrre is nothing illegal in what’s being reported I bet Toronto Life have it’s legal team proof read the artiicle beforehand, it is just good journalistic ethic on how we can deliver the same message without compromising the public safety issues.
I hope you understand the ethical responsibilities of journalism, it’s not about the article but more about how good you can put an article and at the same time being ethical responsible to the general public.
You don’t think someone with an agenda would not spend five minutes researching easily discovered information?
I mean, if you search “Deco” on Google Maps, it pops right up.
Politician’s home addresses are usually open secrets. I could tell you where David Miller lived too, or where Harper grew up. Rob Ford happened to make it easier because he liked to roam the neighbourhood, in a van with custom plates “ROBFORD”. so, anonymity was not ever his intent.
David Miller made himself available to the media at his place of work (City Hall) so there never was any need to follow him home in order to find him. Miller’s schedule was publicly available so the media knew where to find him whenever he was working. He also lead a boring average personal life so there was no reason for the media to report on it.
Ford on the other hand has never answered very important questions, spends most of his time away from City Hall and the only place the media know where to find him is at home. They’ve mostly avoided his family, Ford chose to bring his wife to that press conference and put her through that.
If a person has an agenda, why does he/she wants to search the internet and leave behind all the electronic footprints for the police to find out. Have someone to help you, like Toronto Life, supplying you all the addresses you need on a silver plate. You sound so novice in this regard, remember the bishop from the east coast who is a pedophile, you think the police would have single a priest returning from Europe without some kind of internet surveillance. Another example, Boston Marathon bombers, they were easily traced by all their goggling on how to make a bomb. Sophisticated crime does not browse the internet, they prefer others to provide all the information…give some thought before you reply.
How about a look at the ‘girls of Ford Nation’ wink wink – http://pitchthis.net/blog/the-girls-of-ford-nation/
You wanna get Canada more broke and asking for hand-outs even quicker than Toronto? You wanna have a practically illiterate, obese oaf representing Canada? You wanna have Quebec leave even faster than it already is? By all means, Rob Ford ….
Calm Down! That is Obviously a Joke!
Rob Ford becoming Prime Minister of Canada … Come on!
Ford lives at 223 Edenbridge. Address is slightly incorrect.
where have you been for the last 4 years? Dope. All this info became available through police reports. Try to keep up!
You haven’t seen Miller’s house because it’s not listed in any police reports where murder was committed.
And… Miller never claimed to be “just like you”, like the Fords try and pass off. It’s really concerning when people that are absolutely not “just like them” believe they are. It’s horrible to see people fall victim to lies like that. I pity Ford Nation for believing such silver-spoon-privileged lies.