Life at Cloverhill

Ontario Small Town Ontario

Small Town Ontario: Unionville

A while back when I was home for the holidays, I took a drive through the quaint Main Street of Unionville, Ontario. Its one of my favorite towns I’ve ever been too, and funny enough it actually was the location for part of one of my favorite fictional towns from a hit television show. I’ll show you a few pictures first and see if you can guess it!

There is something about this town that I have always loved. Its hard to believe that this is only 30 minutes away from downtown Toronto, yet it feels like another world.

Its all the detailing in the architecture of the buildings and little touches like bricked sidewalks, old lampposts and perfect fences that add to the ambiance of the town. I’ll have to come back and take more pictures to show you in the summer, because these barren winter shots don’t do it justice. (Update:You can now see Summer pictures here!)

There is even a horse drawn carriage that goes through town during the holidays. How great would it be to take a tour through town all bundled up under sheepskins?

This is by far one of my favorite buildings in the town – The Old Firehall Confectionery! This used to be a sporting goods store but now its turned into sweet tooth heaven. They have walls of baked goods and decadent chocolates, and even make homemade hot chocolate daily. In the summer there is always a line up for their fresh smoothies and ice cream.

Are you starting to recognize this town? I’ll give you another hint…

Does this store kind of remind you of a small New England town? Maybe one full of some quirky townspeople?

Here is a shot of that same building in the first episode of the series. With a blurry image of one the lead stars walking across the street. Have you guessed it yet?

Well, maybe this will help you a bit more. I was walking by this dress shop and I immediately fell in love with this storefront.

The beveled edge of the glass catches so much light and I love the pattern. Do any of you recognize this storefront?

Again, here it is on the show. Do you see the sign?

It’s Luke’s Diner from the hit TV show Gilmore Girls! Thats right, for part of the first season of Gilmore Girls they used Unionville, before they moved to a larger set in LA.  For years I’ve always been a big fan of both the fictional town and the real life one and I had no idea that they were in fact one and the same. You’ll notice that they actually change the structure of Luke’s Diner later in the TV show, but they keep this shot in the opening sequence.

And that church that I drove past on my way into town?

Its the church in the opening scene of the series!

So many of the buildings in Unionville really do remind me of Stars Hollow.

Couldn’t this be the antique shop?

Or the barn behind here could have been Miss Patty’s Dance Studio

Even more modern buildings like this one have been made to fit into the style of the rest of the town.

If you’re not a fan of the TV show then maybe this won’t mean anything to you, but I hope that you can still appreciate this adorable little town.
Are there any quaint small towns near you that are just too sweet to pass up? I’m always looking for good road trip stops.
UPDATE: – Be sure to check out the new pictures in Summer 2011 here!


Comments

  2. Julia @ Hooked on Houses says

    How fun to see these photos from Unionville–the original Stars Hollow! I’m so glad you sent me the link. Thanks, Amanda! You got some great ones. I especially loved seeing the hardware store/diner that appears in the opening credits and 1st season.

  4. Amanda @ 24 Maple Lane says

    My mother & grandmother grew up in Unionville, my grandmother just recently passed but we still have her farm house there. Actually my blog is named after the farm. I love Unionville, it is my home away from home.

  5. Anonymous says

    thanks for sharing!! im such a huge gg fan and enjoyed browsing through the photos! THANK YOU

  7. Anonymous says

    Wow! That was a wonderful trip through your photos. Thank you so much. My teenage daughter and I are huge fans of GG! I’ll have to sure your photos with her. We have found that no matter how much we get on each others nerves, if we can share an hour or two of Gilmore Girls (we own all 7 seasons), then everything seems put to rights. It shouldn’t work that way in the real world, but thank heaven…it does. 🙂

  8. Anonymous says

    Okay, I’m confused now. I remember Amy-Sherman Palladino say during the narrated version of “You Jump I Jump Jack” that Washington Depot CT was the inspiration. So the pilot wasn’t actually filmed there?

  9. Amanda says

    Yes, Washington Depot CT was the inspiration for the show, but when they were shooting the pilot they went with Unionville, Ontario probably because it was so close to Toronto, which is a film industry hub here in Canada. Its a very popular location for television and film shoots in the area.

    • Amanda says

      I’m glad you liked seeing the pics! I still love to go back and watch an episode or two. Its one of those shows I wish never went off air.

  12. Anonymous says

    I live 20 minutes from Unionville and absolutely adore it. Just started watching Gilmore Girls on TV in the past few months and saw the town’s connection on IMDB, thanks for sharing!

  14. C says

    Thanks for the info. Because of this blog I realized I want to propose to my girlfriend in front of that original Luke’s diner 🙂

  15. sanober bukhari says

    Omg I had no idea the original stars hollow was main street, unionville!! This explains my gilmore girls nostalgic obsessive connection. I recently binged watched GG on Netflix all over again. Even my 4 yr old daughter loves the show. I had part of my childhood in unionville in the 90’s. Thanks for sharing this!

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  16. Jane says

    Wow! Only 30 minutes from Toronto? That’s amazing, I lived in Toronto for years and never discovered that. I had always craved small-town, sleepy charm and moved to Europe to find it. Good to know there are still places like that at home. Great post!

  17. Steven says

    I lived on Fred Varley as a teenager, never appreciated the street until I brought my wife from Australia to the town

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