Casa Loma

Casa Loma, the only true once-resided in castle in North America, which can be found in downtown Toronto, is pretty amazing.  We visited it with Ethan & his three girls, and we were all really impressed with it.

 

It was built in 1911 by Sir Henry Pellatt, an incredibly wealthy Canadian.  At various points in his life, he held the North American record for his time in the mile, he controlled over 25% of the Canadian economy with his investments, and he financed the Queen's Own rifle guard to train and travel to Britain to compete - all 600 of them! He was also a leader in the move to change gas lights to electric in Toronto, along with many other hydro electric activities.  Sadly, (and this I do not completely understand) the government expropriated his electricity business, which was the beginning of his very long financial fall.  Less than 10 years after he and his family moved in to the castle, they had to leave.

Check out his shower!  An awesome rain shower head and six different layers of water would squirt out from the sides.

John's and my favorite room - a sitting room surrounded by windows, off of Lady Pallett's bedroom.

This door, along with five others just like it, leads into the conservatory. You can swing the brass decoration away from the glass so that the window can be completely cleaned.  At the time the castle was built, each door cost $10,000.  If one of the doors breaks now, it will be $130,000 to replace it.  One door.

Casa Loma - a Toronto site that is definitely fun to see!