Trips Places Foods Stories Newsletters
Loading...
Top Destinations
Latest Places
Most Popular Places Random Place Lists Itineraries
Add a Place
Download the App
Top Destinations
View All Destinations »

Countries

  • Australia
  • Canada
  • China
  • France
  • Germany
  • India
  • Italy
  • Japan

Cities

  • Amsterdam
  • Barcelona
  • Beijing
  • Berlin
  • Boston
  • Budapest
  • Chicago
  • London
  • Los Angeles
  • Mexico City
  • Montreal
  • Moscow
  • New Orleans
  • New York City
  • Paris
  • Philadelphia
  • Rome
  • San Francisco
  • Seattle
  • Stockholm
  • Tokyo
  • Toronto
  • Vienna
  • Washington, D.C.
Latest Places
View All Places »
Contemplative paths.
Ayo Rock Formations
Parking Lot Shoeprints
Dewey Square Pylon & Bent 38
Black Rocks of Pungo Andongo
Latest Places to Eat & Drink
View All Places to Eat »
The pavlova comes crowned with jewel-like fruit.
Central Park Boathouse
The Village Tavern of Long Grove - exterior.
The Village Tavern
Hunter House Hamburgers
L’Escamoteur
Names on the bartop.
The Dive
Recent Stories
All Stories Video Podcast
Most Recent Stories
View All Stories »
Benshi would introduce and provide commentary for films like A Page of Madness.
Remembering the Heyday of Japan’s Silent FIlm Narrators
The Horn & Hardart Automat was a staple of urban dining in midcentury New York City.
All Hail the Slop Bowl, Lunch of Our Ancestors
The Grateful Dead’s “Wall of Sound” on display in Las Vegas.
The Grateful Dead’s Wall of Sound Changed Live Music Forever
Two suitcases in an empty airport hall.
AO Mailbag: Is It Normal to Share a Checked Bag With Your Boyfriend?

No search results found for
“”

Make sure words are spelled correctly.

Try searching for a travel destination.

Places near me Random place

Popular Destinations

  • Paris
  • London
  • New York
  • Berlin
  • Rome
  • Los Angeles
Trips Places Foods Stories Newsletters
Sign In Join
Places near me Random place
All Canada Ontario Toronto Leslieville's Crazy Doll House
Leslieville's Crazy Doll House is permanently closed.

This entry remains in the Atlas as a record of its history, but it is no longer accessible to visitors.

Leslieville's Crazy Doll House

This Toronto garden collects stares and tchotchkes in equal measure.

Toronto, Ontario

Added By
bandersen
Email
Been Here
Want to go
Added to list
CAPTION
Crazy Doll House on Bertmount Ave.   bandersen / Atlas Obscura User
Superheros, dolls and figurines fill up the little garden   joy_acharjee
The collection occasionally changes   joy_acharjee
The Doll House at night   joy_acharjee
It sits along a quiet street of row houses   Image capture 2015
Horror Music Playing in Background   Red Lens Lifestyle / Atlas Obscura User
  jessicahawk / Atlas Obscura User
  newexperienceaddict / Atlas Obscura User
  jeffharris / Atlas Obscura User
Been Here
Want to go
Added to list

About

Leslieville is a quiet neighborhood along Lake Ontario, east of Old Toronto. It used to be more industrial, the streets lined with single-family homes that once housed the local labor force. Most of them have small, well-tended gardens in front, but there is one particular garden that’s tended a little differently than the others.

Instead of boxwood, hydrangeas and day lilies, the gardener responsible for 37 Bertmount Avenue prefers to plant Superheros, Hello Kitties, mermaids, and troll dolls.

It’s known as the Doll House, and owner Shirley Sumaiser has been collecting her stuffed and plastic critters for over twenty years, using them to fill up her little plot of Leslieville.

The Doll House is not just dolls—there are toys, stuffed animals, plaques, and signs, some hung from the fence, some mounted on wooden stakes, and some lining the porch and eaves. Together they create a landscape cacophony, the collection often is redone to suit a holiday or a set of new or seasonal additions. The result is an ever-changing garden of tchotchkes that attracts Toronto tourists and shutterbugs alike.

What’s become Shirley’s passion over the years began as a harmless little collecting hobby, after her husband had sadly passed away. Two decades later, and her Doll House is a beacon for the neighborhood, the one garden that everyone who lives in Leslieville can direct you to.

Update: The Leslieville dollhouse has been sold to a new owner.

Related Tags

Collections Architectural Oddities Dolls Gardens Toys Architecture Plants

Know Before You Go

The house in the Leslieville section of Toronto, on Bertmont Avenue (between Queen St. E and Dundas St. E), not far from the Harbourfront.

Community Contributors

Added By

bandersen

Edited By

Blindcolour, seenmaker, Red Lens Lifestyle, jessicahawk...

  • Blindcolour
  • seenmaker
  • Red Lens Lifestyle
  • jessicahawk
  • newexperienceaddict
  • alessiarapini
  • jeffharris

Published

November 14, 2016

Updated

December 10, 2024

Edit this listing

Make an Edit
Add Photos
Sources
  • http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1366978/A-real-Toy-Story-The-house-childhood-dreams-nightmares-of.html
  • http://www.metronews.ca/news/toronto/2014/05/27/from-a-fibreglass-elephant-to-the-infamous-leslieville-doll-house-torontos-weirdest-yards.html
  • https://www.thestar.com/news/gta/2015/09/22/seven-of-torontos-quirkiest-houses-and-gardens.html
  • https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Leslieville
  • https://globalnews.ca/news/10615804/toronto-leslieville-dollhouse-for-sale/
Leslieville's Crazy Doll House
37 Bertmount Avenue
Toronto, Ontario
Canada
43.663425, -79.335119
Get Directions

Nearby Places

Cube House

Toronto, Ontario

miles away

First Toronto Post Office

Toronto, Ontario

miles away

Allan Gardens Conservatory

Toronto, Ontario

miles away

Explore the Destination Guide

Photo of Toronto

Toronto

Ontario

Places 55
Stories 8

Nearby Places

Cube House

Toronto, Ontario

miles away

First Toronto Post Office

Toronto, Ontario

miles away

Allan Gardens Conservatory

Toronto, Ontario

miles away

Explore the Destination Guide

Photo of Toronto

Toronto

Ontario

Places 55
Stories 8

Related Stories and Lists

19 Places to Find the World's Creepiest Toys

List

By Molly McBride Jacobson

Related Places

  • The Palm House.

    Belfast, Northern Ireland

    Belfast Botanic Gardens Palm House

    For part of the year, this innovative greenhouse is painted white to keep the plants from getting scorched.

  • Class of 1959 Chapel.

    Boston, Massachusetts

    Class of 1959 Chapel

    The strikingly modern structure stands out among the brick buildings speckling the Harvard Business School's campus.

  • Pasha Gardens

    Thessaloniki, Greece

    Pasha Gardens

    A little-known park with unusual, half-ruined structures and a mystical energy.

  • Lanarch Castle, Dunedin.

    Dunedin, New Zealand

    Larnach Castle

    One of New Zealand’s few castles boasts beautiful gardens, grand architecture, and a history filled with family drama.

  • Elephants stand on the Sezincote grounds.

    Gloucestershire, England

    Sezincote Estate

    A majestic mansion designed in Mughalai style, complete with a turquoise onion dome.

  • Summer at Shofuso

    Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

    Shofuso Japanese House and Garden

    Philadelphia boasts one of the best — and most often overlooked — traditional Japanese gardens in North America.

  • The garden inside the Ford Foundation Building

    New York, New York

    New York's Hidden Tropical Forest

    A miniature rainforest is growing inside of a Midtown Manhattan office building.

  • Cambridge, Massachusetts

    Longfellow House

    One of America's most historic homes also holds a startling literary legacy.

Aerial image of Vietnam, displaying the picturesque rice terraces, characterized by their layered, verdant fields.
Atlas Obscura Membership

Become an Atlas Obscura Member


Join our community of curious explorers.

Become a Member

Get Our Email Newsletter

Follow Us

Facebook YouTube TikTok Instagram Pinterest RSS Feed

Get the app

Download the App
Download on the Apple App Store Get it on Google Play
  • All Places
  • Latest Places
  • Most Popular
  • Places to Eat
  • Random
  • Nearby
  • Add a Place
  • Stories
  • Food & Drink
  • Itineraries
  • Lists
  • Video
  • Podcast
  • Newsletters
  • All Trips
  • Family Trip
  • Food & Drink
  • History & Culture
  • Wildlife & Nature
  • FAQ
  • Membership
  • Feedback & Ideas
  • Community Guidelines
  • Product Blog
  • Unique Gifts
  • Work With Us
  • About
  • FAQ
  • Advertise With Us
  • Advertising Guidelines
  • Privacy Policy
  • Cookie Policy
  • Terms of Use
Atlas Obscura

© 2025 Atlas Obscura. All Rights Reserved.