Q1. Which Toronto landmarks are connected to the Beaches' Chateau des Quatre Vents?? (P7)
Q3. Where was Sir Henry Pellatt's summer house built and what happened to it? (P8)
Q6. What do Casa Loma and the House on the Hill have in common? (P9)
Chateau des Quatre Vents - Hidden Jewel on Queen East
From little village, thriving town, to a part of Beaches heritage
By Beth Parker
At the far east end of Queen Street, there is a castle-themed cliff
top home. Although the house isn't visible from Queen Street, the
two rounded turrets carved in opposite shapes, one concave and
one convex, can be seen hidden amongst the trees when looking
towards the Lake. The home is at the end of the 100-ft. private
pathway, Rockaway Crescent that leads toward the cliff edge.
From Toronto's
Remarkable Landmarks
to the Cliff Top Chateau
The story of the Chateau on Queen East
goes back to the age of Casa Loma, and it
has close ties to Toronto's Old City Hall,
King Edward Hotel and Sir Henry Pellatt,
the dreamer behind Toronto's famous
landmark, European style castle, Casa
Loma.
The front of the home at 3025 Queen
Street East was originally constructed in
1892 as a summer cottage. In 1910 the
owner, William Murray, commissioned
Toronto's most influential Canadian
architect of that era, Edward Lennox to
build a 2½-story addition. Lennox was
the same architect that designed Toronto's
landmarks of Casa Loma, Old City
Hall and the King Edward hotel. Once
completed, Mr. Murray named the house
Chateau des Quatre Vents (Castle of the
Four Winds).
Queen Anne Style,
Victorian flavours and
Medieval Influence,
it's got it all!
On the outside you can clearly see similarities
with Lennox's other buildings. Steeply
pitched roofs with irregular features, elaborate
gabled balconies and towers placed at
the corner of the front facade – all characteristic
of the Queen Anne style. There are
also Victorian era turrets and medieval influenced
gargoyles and high arches.
Inside, the house is beautifully preserved
by the current owner who abought it
in 1992 and restored it to its original
grandeur from years of neglect as a set of
rental apartments. There are large stainedglass
windows in the living room, which
has a ceiling criss-crossed with original oak
beams. The dining room is circular, with
oak wainscoting and gold painted crown
moldings. Two of the bedrooms in the
turrets are also decorated with gold painted
crown moldings. A few modern amenities
have been added, for example, the original
building didn't have an indoor bathroom!
Sir Henry Pellatt, Beaches Landowner
There is another Beaches/Casa Loma connection. The owner of Chateau des Quatre
Vents, Mr. Murray, originally bought the land for the house from Sir Henry Pellatt, the
same romanticist and industrialist who commissioned Casa Loma. Besides purchasing
the land on which he built Casa Loma, Sir Henry had a large piece of land on top of
the cliff for his own summer estate. Part of that land he sold to William Murray. Sir
Henry did build his own summer home on the rest of the property, but unfortunately
this home burned to the ground in a fire in the early 1920s; this is about the same
time when Sir Henry went bankrupt. Part of this land is where the R.C. Harris public
utilities and water works is located.
Sir Henry Pellatt's Dream
Sir Henry Pellatt was the dreamer behind
Toronto's famous landmark, Casa Loma.
Born in Kingston, Ontario on January 6,
1859 to British parents, this ambitious
youth left his studies at Upper Canada
College at seventeen to work in the
family commerce business. At the age of
23 he became a full partner in his father's
brokerage firm, Pellatt and Pellatt. That was
the same year he married Mary Dodgeson.
As many know, Sir Henry Pellatt built
Casa Loma in Toronto to look and feel like
a real castle, and the only castle in North
America. By 1911, Sir Henry had amassed
a fortune through business investments of
about $17 million and turned his attention
to building his "dream home". Sir Henry
was a great philanthropist and part of his
hope was that having such a grand castle
in Toronto would attract more royalty to
the city.
Casa Loma –
House on the Hill
The land on which he planned to build had
been given a name by its previous owner:
"house on the hill" or Casa Loma.
Sir Henry and his architect, Edward Lennox,
drew their inspiration from castles in Europe
for Casa Loma's design and furnishings,
borrowing from the most pleasing elements
of Norman, Gothic and Romanesque
styles. Casa Loma was completed in 1914.
It had the most modern conveniences of
the day: electricity, indoor plumbing, a
central vacuum and its very own telephone
exchange with fifty-nine telephones. The
construction costs were $3.5 million and
the furnishings another $1.5 million.
A Lasting Vision
Unfortunately, Sir Henry went further
and further into debt building his castle,
neither he nor his wife ever living in
their castle home. After World War 1
the economy slumped,
and Pellatt and his
wife faced bankruptcy.
Faced with an
extraordinary tax bill,
Sir Henry ended up
signing over Casa Loma
to the City of Toronto for unpaid taxes. The
city has owned it ever since, but it has been
operated by the Kiwanis Club since 1937.
A Lasting Vision
Although Sir Henry died almost penniless,
he was a man of great heart and great vision.
Whenever he was able, he gave a great deal of
his fortune to several philanthropic endeavors
and his enlistment
of Edward Lennox
to build Casa Loma
gave North America
its only castle. It
is worth a drive to
see Lennox' larger
masterpieces in our city – the Old City Hall
and King Edward – but also the lovely summer
residence of Chateau de Quatre Vents.
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