Major-General and Mrs. C. Churchill Mann were riding one day across country looking for a suitable spot to build. Mrs. Mann pulled her horse Joker to a stop and said, “This is it!” Jokers Hill was born.

Since then this beautiful rolling country property, situated right in King, has been an equestrian hotbed, and now an environmental research facility, the Koffler Scientific Reserve at Jokers Hill for the University of Toronto. There was a time when pre-Olympic trials for equestrian events were held at Jokers Hill, as each year they drew capacity entries and crowds of spectators.

Over the 60’s and 70’s owner, Murray Koffler continued to follow the tradition established by General Mann, who designed the original three-day event equestrian courses on his former estate. In 1995, Drs. Murray and his wife Marvelle Koffler donated their 350-hectare equestrian estate to U of T for academic use.

Originally the Koffler’s wanted to give the estate to the province as a provincial park, but the province wouldn’t accept the land without an additional monetary gift to cover operating expenses. Murray Koffler gave a dinner with the U of T president in attendance. He was telling the president about the province’s reluctance to accept the property, then the president suggested Koffler donate the property to the university. Immediately Koffler accepted with a handshake. This gift to U of T made the university the sixth largest landowner on the Oak Ridges Moraine and steward of a landscape of regional, provincial and national significance. (Recently announced, University of Toronto has received a $1.5M grant from the Canada Foundation for Innovation to improve research lab facilities.)

The forests that cover most of the reserve hold some of the oldest continuous woodlots in southern Ontario, including prime stands that once typified the area. Other important features also included wetland, meadow and old-field habitats. Reserve headquarters are located in the former estate house, which was designed by Mathers & Haldenby Architects and constructed in 1953.

The Koffler Scientific Reserve at Jokers Hill operates year round, pursuing its three-pronged mission of research, teaching and public outreach. Since field research got underway in the spring of 1997, researchers from three U of T campuses, as well as seven other universities in Ontario, New Brunswick, the United States and France, have investigated diverse topics such as tree leaf physiology, plant mechanisms that prevent self-pollination and the evolution of plant resistance to frost and insects.

Over 35 studies published in the most respected journals in ecology and evolutionary biology, have emerged from these efforts.

The reserve has some of the largest and best old growth forest stands in southern Ontario. Among the native hardwood trees at the reserve are Sugar Maple, Beech and Hop Hornbeam.

ASK (Arts Society King) and Jokers Hill are planning a fundraising activity which will highlight art from U of T students.

Below: This is the cabana, designed by Raymond Moriyama, who is one of Canada’s most respected architects. Moriyama has applied his extraordinary vision and understanding to
numerous projects including the Bata Shoe Museum, Bank of Montreal Institute for Learning, Saudi Arabian National Museum, Ontario Science Centre, Toronto Reference Library,
Canadian Embassy in Tokyo and the Canadian War Museum. He has received numerous honours including the Confederation of Canada Medal, the Royal Architectural Institute of Canada Gold Medal, and honourary degrees
from ten Canadian universities. He is also an Officer of the Order of Canada and the Order of Ontario. The cabana at Joker’s Hill will be featured at the King Doors Open tour this fall.