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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!

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Comments

  1. Steph says

    February 12, 2010 at 9:41 pm

    What a pretty town. One more reason I think I’m a Canadian 😛

  2. Julia @ Hooked on Houses says

    May 21, 2010 at 3:44 pm

    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.

  3. delighted says

    May 24, 2010 at 5:37 am

    cute town, thanks for sharing

  4. Amanda @ 24 Maple Lane says

    May 24, 2010 at 2:12 pm

    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

    October 28, 2010 at 3:40 pm

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

  6. Anonymous says

    March 17, 2011 at 2:50 am

    You want quaint? You MUST visit Perth Ontario, just West of Ottawa.

  7. Anonymous says

    August 6, 2011 at 1:53 am

    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

    December 7, 2011 at 5:44 pm

    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

    February 3, 2012 at 8:59 pm

    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.

  10. Paige says

    April 11, 2012 at 3:15 am

    Thanks for sharing! GG is my absolute favorite show 🙂

    • Amanda says

      April 12, 2012 at 8:37 pm

      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.

  11. Shannon says

    July 6, 2012 at 6:22 pm

    I grew up in Unionville, lived just down the street from the church until I was nine 🙂

    • Amanda says

      July 9, 2012 at 8:39 pm

      Seriously? That’s crazy! Garrett lived near there too until he was about 10

  12. Anonymous says

    July 22, 2012 at 1:00 am

    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!

  13. Jenna says

    September 3, 2014 at 5:01 pm

    I thought Stars Hollow was inspired by Washington Depot, CT?

  14. C says

    November 17, 2014 at 12:34 pm

    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 🙂

    • Amanda - Small Home Big Start says

      November 20, 2014 at 2:44 pm

      That is such a romantic idea! I’m sure she’ll love it. If you take a pic of the big moment, send it my way 🙂

  15. sanober bukhari says

    March 9, 2015 at 1:42 pm

    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

    June 20, 2016 at 6:20 am

    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

    April 10, 2018 at 10:47 pm

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

Trackbacks

  1. Trip to Stars Hollow/Unionville - Jeaneva Spencer says:
    March 10, 2015 at 3:50 pm

    […] (trying to avoid spoilers) and I found out season one was filmed in Unionville, Ontario! I found a great blog post that said Luke’s Diner was up there. Said blog also has some good comparison shots of scenes […]

Hi, I'm Amanda! Join me as I make my family's 1903 farmhouse into a home. I share renovations, DIY projects, recipes, our flower farm and the joy of living in the Canadian countryside
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