Markham Luxury Real Estate: Angus Glen, Unionville, Cachet 2026

By Jatin Dua · Broker of Record, RE/MAX Quantum Realty — Markham’s luxury pockets compared, heritage district rules, schools, TRCA lots, transit and a pre-offer buyer checklist.

Want the Markham luxury homes that fit your brief, checked for heritage, TRCA and schools first? Tell me what you are looking for.

Where are the luxury pockets in Markham?

When buyers call me about luxury in Markham, they almost always land on the same short list: Angus Glen, Cachet, Devil’s Elbow and Unionville, with Victoria Square and Buttonville as the two names that come up next. They sit close together in the northwest and centre of the city, roughly between Highway 404 and Kennedy Road, and between Highway 7 and Major Mackenzie Drive.

They are not the same product, though. One is a golf-course community built from the late 1990s on. One is a large-lot detached pocket off Highway 404. One is a 19th-century village with heritage rules on every exterior change. If you treat them as interchangeable, you will either overpay or buy the wrong kind of house for how you live.

This guide is my shortlist, not an official ranking. It covers what each pocket is, where its edges are, which schools buyers ask about, the heritage and conservation rules that change what you can build, and a checklist I use with clients before an offer.

How do the Markham luxury pockets compare?

Here is the side-by-side. Boundaries are the ones the sources describe; local usage and MLS community maps can draw them a little differently, so confirm the exact address.

What makes Angus Glen different?

Angus Glen grew up around the Angus Glen Golf Club. The club’s South Course opened in 1995 and the North Course in 2001. Both are 18-hole, par-72 championship courses, and the club hosted the Canadian Open in 2002 and 2007.

The neighbourhood itself was developed from the late 1990s. The East Village, about 500 single-family homes and townhouses at the start, was planned on New Urbanism principles. The West Village followed from the mid-2000s. That history matters for buyers because you get two quite different streetscapes inside one name.

The anchor most families use every week is the Angus Glen Community Centre on Major Mackenzie Drive. It has an arena, a sports centre, a pool, a conference centre and a Markham Public Library branch.

What to know before you buy here:

• Land once set aside for a school inside Angus Glen was bought back by the developer in 2014, so do not assume there is a school inside the community. Check which schools serve the exact address.
• Homes backing onto the golf course or ravine land can carry conservation authority rules. More on that below.
• The mix runs from townhouses to large detached homes, so price per square foot varies a lot from street to street.

What is Cachet, and how is it different from Angus Glen?

Cachet sits just west of Angus Glen, between Highway 404 and Warden Avenue, from 16th Avenue up to Major Mackenzie Drive. It was built on former farmland, and about 83% of its homes are detached houses, with about 14% rowhouses and a small share of low-rise buildings.

The difference buyers feel is mainly scale and access. Cachet is more uniformly large detached homes, and you are minutes from Highway 404. Angus Glen has more variety and the golf and community centre on its doorstep. Many of my clients view both on the same day, and the decision usually comes down to lot, layout and the school answer for the specific street.

Where is Devil’s Elbow, and why do luxury buyers ask about it?

Devil’s Elbow is the community name used for an estate-home pocket in northwest Markham, next to Cachet, Angus Glen and Victoria Square. It is not one of the historic hamlets, and you will not find it in the City’s heritage material. You mainly see the name on listing and board community maps.

Buyers ask about it because it is where Markham’s detached market tends to be most expensive: big houses, often 3,500 square feet and up, and larger lots than the subdivisions around it. Because the name is a mapping label more than a historic place, the edge between “Devil’s Elbow” and “Cachet” can be one street. Confirm which community an address actually sits in before you compare it with other sales.

What are the heritage rules on Main Street Unionville?

Main Street Unionville is one of four heritage conservation districts in Markham, along with Buttonville, Markham Village and Thornhill. The Unionville district plan went to Council for adoption in September 1997, and the Ontario Municipal Board approved the district boundary on January 6, 1998. The district centres on Main Street in the old village and includes the commercial core and nearby residential streets. The east side of Main Street slopes down to the Rouge River flood plain.

The plan sorts buildings into three classes:

• Class A: major historical or architectural importance. Individually designated (Part IV) buildings are also treated as Class A.
• Class B: contextual buildings that add to the village’s character.
• Class C: buildings not related to the heritage character, including newer infill.

Here is what the City says needs a Heritage Permit for any property in a heritage conservation district:

One practical point: Markham will not accept a building permit application until the Heritage Permit is issued. If you plan to add on or rebuild, that sequence goes into your timeline and budget. For the wider picture on buying a protected home, see my guide to buying a heritage-designated luxury home in Ontario.

Do Buttonville and Victoria Square have heritage rules too?

Buttonville does. It is one of Markham’s four heritage conservation districts, so the same permit rules apply inside its mapped boundary. The wider Buttonville area runs along Woodbine Avenue from Highway 7 to 16th Avenue, and most of its homes were built between 1980 and 2000. The former Buttonville Municipal Airport at 16th Avenue and Highway 404 closed in 2023, and the land is planned for residential and commercial redevelopment. If you are buying close to it, expect years of construction nearby.

Victoria Square is not one of the four districts. It is a historic crossroads at Victoria Square Boulevard and Major Mackenzie Drive, settled around 1805, with an 1877 schoolhouse and older churches still standing. New single-family homes started in 2006 and picked up after the Woodbine Avenue bypass opened in 2010.

Anywhere in Markham, an older house can still be individually designated or “listed” on the City’s Heritage Property Register. Under the current rules, a demolition request for a listed property can be held up for up to 60 days while the City decides whether to protect it, and properties listed on or before January 1, 2023 must come off the register by January 1, 2027 unless designation has started. Search the register before you buy a house you might tear down.

Which schools do Markham luxury buyers ask about?

School questions come up in almost every Markham call I take. These are the three public high schools buyers name most often. All are York Region District School Board schools.

• Unionville High School, 201 Town Centre Boulevard. Opened in 1985. It is home to Arts Unionville (formerly Arts York), a four-year arts program in visual arts, music, dance and drama taken alongside regular classes. Ask the school how students get into the program before you buy for it.
• Pierre Elliott Trudeau High School, 90 Bur Oak Avenue. Opened in 2002. It offers English and French immersion, plus Specialist High Skills Majors in business, health and wellness, and arts and culture. It mainly serves northern Unionville, including Cachet and Angus Glen.
• Bur Oak Secondary School, 933 Bur Oak Avenue. Opened in 2007, with core French, Specialist High Skills Majors and some AP courses. It is further east, so it matters more if you are looking toward Berczy or Wismer than in Cachet.

Attendance boundaries change, and specialty programs have their own entry rules. Always confirm the school for the exact address with the board before you firm up an offer. My top schools in Markham post goes into more detail.

What about the Rouge River, ravines and TRCA land?

Markham’s best lots often back onto green space, and much of that green space is regulated. The Rouge River runs through Buttonville and along the low side of Main Street Unionville, and Toogood Pond Park in Unionville covers 33.3 hectares around the old mill pond. Further east, Rouge National Urban Park, about 79 square kilometres across Toronto, Markham, Pickering and other municipalities, limits development east of Reesor Road.

Lots in or next to valleys, watercourses, flood plains and wetlands are usually inside a Toronto and Region Conservation Authority (TRCA) regulated area under Ontario Regulation 41/24. A TRCA permit may be needed to build or add to a house, or for a garage, shed, deck, pool, landscaping or moving fill. Before you buy a ravine or creek-side lot, run the address through TRCA’s regulated area search. My post on TRCA permits for ravine properties walks through the process.

How is transit for Markham luxury buyers?

Most buyers in these pockets drive, and Highway 404 and Highway 407 are the main reasons Cachet and Buttonville appeal to commuters. For transit, the key station is Unionville GO at 155 YMCA Boulevard on the Stouffville line, with about 1,620 parking spaces. The line runs to Union Station in downtown Toronto. Peak trains run in the peak direction, and off-peak trains run roughly hourly in both directions between Union and Mount Joy. Check GO Transit’s current timetable, because service has changed several times and more expansion has been proposed.

Other Markham stops on the line are Centennial, Markham and Mount Joy. Angus Glen is served by York Region Transit, with Route 18 ending at the Angus Glen Community Centre.

New luxury builds or older estates: which should you buy?

This is the real choice in Markham luxury, more than the neighbourhood name.

• Newer builds (much of Angus Glen West Village, Cachet, Devil’s Elbow, Victoria Square): bigger floor plans, higher ceilings, less renovation risk. You are paying for the house, and the main checks are build quality, warranty status if it is recent, and the school answer.
• Older and heritage homes (Main Street Unionville, the Buttonville core): character, mature trees and a walkable village. You are paying for location and story, and the main checks are the heritage class, permit history, and the real cost of bringing systems up to date.
• Teardown and rebuild: possible on many older lots outside the districts, but check zoning under Markham’s Comprehensive Zoning By-law 2024-19, the heritage register and TRCA before you pay a land price.

Markham’s new Comprehensive Zoning By-law 2024-19 was approved city-wide by the Ontario Land Tribunal (deemed in force January 31, 2024), except for lands still under site-specific appeal. Use the City’s zoning search for the exact lot.

What should be on my Markham luxury buyer checklist?

This is the list I go through with clients before we write an offer in any of these pockets.

If you already own in Markham and are thinking of moving up, start with what your current home would sell for. My Markham home value guide explains how I price it.

How I help Markham luxury buyers and sellers

I work across Toronto and the whole GTA, and Markham is one of the markets clients bring me into most. On the buy side, I do the boundary, heritage, TRCA and school homework before we see a house, so the showings are only homes you could actually live in and change the way you want. On the sell side, I price by street and lot, not by community label. If you want my shortlist of current Markham luxury homes that fit your brief, use the form below or call me at 833-330-1925.

Frequently asked questions

Sources

• City of Markham — Heritage — Markham’s four heritage conservation districts and when a Heritage Permit is needed
• City of Markham — Heritage Conservation Districts — Unionville and Buttonville district plans, maps and approval process
• City of Markham — Unionville Heritage Conservation District Plan: District Overview (PDF) — 1997 plan adoption, 1998 OMB approval, Class A/B/C building classes
• City of Markham — Heritage Permit — Minor vs Major permits, demolition, fees by-law 2023-21, building permit sequence
• City of Markham — Heritage Property Register — Listed vs designated properties, 60-day demolition delay, January 1, 2027 removal deadline
• City of Markham — Zoning and Development Law Information — Comprehensive Zoning By-law 2024-19 and its OLT approval
• Toronto and Region Conservation Authority — Planning and Permits — Ontario Regulation 41/24 regulated areas and when a permit is needed
• Wikipedia — Angus Glen — Angus Glen boundaries, history and community centre
• Wikipedia — Cachet, Ontario — Cachet boundaries and housing mix
• Wikipedia — Pierre Elliott Trudeau High School — Address, programs and the communities it serves

Related reading

• Best realtor in Markham
• How much is my house worth in Markham?
• Top 5 schools in Markham
• Buying a heritage-designated luxury home in Ontario
• TRCA permits for building on a ravine property