Casa Loma (Spanish for “Hill House”) is a Gothic Revival castle-style mansion and garden in midtown Toronto, Canada, that is now a historic house museum and landmark. It was constructed from 1911 to 1914 as a residence for financier Sir Henry Pellatt. The architect was E. J. Lennox, who designed several other city landmarks. Casa Loma sits at an elevation of 140 meters (460 ft) above sea level and 66 meters (217 ft) above Lake Ontario.
Due to its unique architectural character in Toronto, Casa Loma has been a popular filming location for movies and television. It is also a popular venue for wedding ceremonies, and Casa Loma can be rented in the evenings after the museum closes to the public.
History
In 1903, financier Henry Pellatt purchased 25 lots from developers Kirtland and Rolf. Pellatt commissioned architect E. J. Lennox to design Casa Loma, with construction beginning in 1911, starting with the massive stables, potting shed, and Hunting Lodge (a.k.a. coach-house) hundred feet north of the main building. The Hunting Lodge is a two-storey, 4,380-square-foot (407 m2) house with servants’ quarters. As soon as the stable complex was completed, Pellatt sold his summer house in Scarborough (burned down in the 1920s, but the Lennox-designed groundskeeper’s home at 2 Courcelette Road remains) to his son and moved to the Hunting Lodge. The stables were used as a construction site for the mansion (and also served as the quarters for the male servants), with some of the machinery remaining in the rooms under the stables.
The house cost about $3.5 million and took 299 workers three years to build. Due to the start of World War I, construction was halted. It was the largest private residence in Canada, with 98 rooms covering 64,700 square feet (6,011 m2).[6] Notable amenities included an elevator, an oven large enough to cook an ox, two vertical passages for pipe organs, a central vacuum, two secret passages in Pellatt’s ground-floor office, a pool, and three bowling lanes in the basement (the last two were never completed). Bed Bug Exterminator Toronto
Exhibits
Girl Guide Exhibit
The Girl Guide Exhibit was opened on the second floor of Casa Loma in 1973. The relationship between the Girl Guides and Casa Loma extends back to Lady Pellatt, who frequently invited the Girl Guides to her home. Their first visit was in 1913, when 250 girls and their leaders toured the conservatories and stables, climbed the circular staircase to the top turret, and then were served tea in the Palm Room. In March 1914, Lady Pellatt watched the Guides’ annual fête from her bedroom window as she was too ill to leave her room. Rallies became an annual event at the house. Guides also skated on the house’s curling rink in winter. Girl Guiding events have continued in recent years, including the 75th anniversary and the 100th-anniversary celebrations of Guiding in Canada were held at Casa Loma.
Address: 1 Austin Terrace, Toronto, CA
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