Discover Toronto's history as told through its plaques

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Casa Loma and the Pellatts

Photo by Alan L Brown - Posted September, 2006

Photo by Alan L Brown - Posted July, 2011

This plaque at the bottom of the Baldwin Steps, on the west side, tells us this:

Coordinates: 43.677552 -79.408211

Click here for a larger map

Of all the grand houses ever built on this escarpment, Casa Loma is the grandest. Meaning "House (on the) Hill", it was the romantic vision of the industrialist Sir Henry Pellatt (1859-1939). Pellatt made his fortune harnessing the power of Niagara Falls to electrify the streets and homes of Toronto. A flamboyant entrepreneur, he was fascinated by the Middle Ages. Pellatt was knighted in 1905 as patron and commander of the Queen's Own Rifles, a Canadian militia regiment. His towered mansion designed by architect E.J. Lennox in 1909 is an extravagant medieval fantasy. At 98 rooms, it is Canada's largest house. The Pellatts moved into Casa Loma in 1913 and lived there for eleven years. In 1924, faced with severe financial setbacks, Pellatt was forced to sell his cherished home. After an unsuccessful attempt as an apartment-hotel, in 1937 this landmark was taken over by the West Toronto Kiwanis Club who continue to manage the castle as a popular tourist attraction.

Other plaques on the Baldwin Steps
The Baldwin Family
The Baldwin Steps
Spadina and the Austins

More Toronto buildings designed by E.J. Lennox
Historic Postal Station 'G'
House of Industry
The King Edward Hotel
Massey-Harris Company
Mount Pleasant Cemetery
"Old" City Hall
Queen City Yacht Club
Standard Woollen Mills Building

More
Residential buildings

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