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42-528: 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. In 1903, financier Henry Pellatt purchased 25 lots from developers Kertland and Rolf. Pellatt commissioned architect E. J. Lennox to design Casa Loma, with construction beginning in 1911, starting with

84-456: A book about the "castle". The area was closed, behind an "Under Repairs" sign. The suggestion that the stables were under renovation allowed workers of the secret facility to come and go without suspicion. Casa Loma is often claimed to be the location of Station M that manufactured covert devices for agents, claiming that the book Inside Camp X provides this information. In 2015, however, author Lynn Philip Hodgson rejected this in an interview with

126-453: A campaign against the great industrialists of Canada, proclaiming that hydro power "should be as free as air". Through legislative process and by whipping up anti-rich sentiment, Beck was able to successfully appropriate Pellatt's life work and take his electric companies from him. Beck then led a populist revolt to raise Pellatt's taxes on his castle, Casa Loma, from $ 600 per year to $ 12,000. The strain of losing all of his income, coupled with

168-421: A filming location for the 2019 American black comedy thriller Ready or Not . In 2022, Casa Loma was the filming location of the music video for Wait for U by Future and Drake . Henry Pellatt Major-General Sir Henry Mill Pellatt , CVO (January 6, 1859 – March 8, 1939) was a Canadian financier and soldier. He is notable for his role in bringing hydro-electricity to Toronto for

210-408: A full member of the stock exchange . In the following year, Pellatt's father set up a partnership with his son under the name Pellatt and Pellatt. Pellatt married twice, first to Mary Dodgson in Toronto in 1882 and, after Mary's death in 1924, to Catharine Welland Merritt in Toronto in 1927 (which lasted until her death in 1929). With his first wife, he had one son, Reginald Pellatt (1885–1967), who

252-484: A local Kiwanis Club , and subsequently Casa Loma was leased in 1937 by the Kiwanis Club of West Toronto, later the Kiwanis Club of Casa Loma (KCCL), which began operating the mansion under a sole-source contract as a tourist destination. During World War II, the stables were used to conceal research and production of sonar , and for construction of sonar devices (known as ASDIC) for U-boat detection, according to

294-402: A major swing era dance band. The city seized Casa Loma in 1924 for unpaid taxes, and for years, the building was left vacant. In the 1930s, CFRB broadcaster Claire Wallace spent a night at Casa Loma to gather material for a story about ghosts and supernatural phenomena, and she later broadcast an appeal to save the building from demolition. Her broadcast was heard by the vice-president of

336-422: A new operator. In January 2014, the city entered a new long-term lease and operating agreement with Liberty Entertainment Group, led by President and CEO Nick Di Donato, which agreed to spend $ 7.4 million to continue the mansion's upgrades. The company's plans also included a fine dining facility. The restaurant, Blueblood Steakhouse, opened in summer 2017. Sir Henry imported artisans from Europe to design much of

378-410: A stipulation that KCCL would use the mansion's net revenues to help pay for upgrades; however, the organization used the fund to cover operating shortfalls instead, and there was only $ 335,000 in the account by 2011, rather than the $ 1.5-million originally projected. As a result, in 2011, the city temporarily resumed management of Casa Loma and began welcoming bids from the private sector in its search for

420-531: The Toronto Star . "Nobody knows where Station M was. You won't read where it was in any book." KCCL managed Casa Loma for 74 years, until 2011. Its tenure was not without controversy, with Pellatt's great-grandniece Trelawny Howell starting a campaign for an open-tender lease process in 2005, and the organization disputing her relationship with Pellatt in 2010. A 2006 advisory committee led by former MPP Ron Kanter , and its subsequent reports, recommended that

462-694: The Legislative Assembly of Ontario as a Liberal from 1987 to 1990. Kanter was educated at Glendon College, York University , the University of Toronto Faculty of Law , and Osgoode Hall Law School . He was called to the Bar in 1976. In 1984, he was named a course director at the University of Toronto Faculty of Law. Kanter served as special assistant to Ontario Liberal Party leader Stuart Smith from 1976 to 1980. He served as an alderman on

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504-542: The Scott Pilgrim series and Eric Wilson 's murder mystery The Lost Treasure of Casa Loma . In the CBC Television show Being Erica , the episode "Mi Casa, Su Casa Loma" features Casa Loma prominently as the place where main character Erica Strange works. It also appeared in the television adaptation of R. L. Stine's Goosebumps series' A Night In Terror Tower . Casa Loma also features prominently in

546-756: The Toronto City Council from 1980 to 1987, and was also a member of the Metro Toronto council from 1985 to 1987. He was elected to the Ontario legislature in the 1987 provincial election , upsetting Progressive Conservative leader and longtime MPP Larry Grossman by 3,676 votes in the constituency of St. Andrew—St. Patrick . Shortly after the election he was appointed as Parliamentary Assistant to Solicitor General Joan Smith in David Peterson 's government. In July 1989, Kanter

588-627: The Yonge-University line of the Toronto subway . Casa Loma is a popular location for use in film and television. It has served as a location for movies such as X-Men , Strange Brew , Chicago , The Tuxedo , Scott Pilgrim vs. the World , Warehouse 13 , Crimson Peak , Twitches , Twitches Too , The Pacifier , and Titans where it stands in for Wayne Manor . Comic books and children's novels that have used it include

630-530: The 75th anniversary and the 100th anniversary celebrations of Guiding in Canada were held at Casa Loma. As of 2014, the garage and carriage room feature an exhibition of vintage cars from the early 1900s. Casa Loma is located on Austin Terrace at Spadina Road , on an escarpment (Davenport Hill) above Davenport Road . Davenport runs along the bottom of the escarpment, which was the shoreline of Lake Iroquois ,

672-471: 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 still remaining in the rooms under the stables. The house cost about $ 3.5 million (in 1910s CAD) and took 299 workers three years to build. Due to the start of World War I, construction was halted. At 98 rooms covering 200,000 square feet, it

714-710: The Regiment's 50th anniversary. The military exercises lasted from August 13 to October 3, 1910. Pellatt later served as the regiment's Honorary Colonel and was promoted to the rank of Major-General upon his retirement from the regiment. In addition, he was made a Commander of the Royal Victorian Order (CVO) in 1910. From 1911 to 1923, he was the Knight Principal of the Imperial Society of Knights Bachelor . Much of Pellatt's fortune

756-631: The Toronto Board of Trade Task Force, and writes and speaks frequently on municipal government and planning issues. In July 1990, he authored a publication entitled "Space for all: options for a Greater Toronto Area greenlands strategy". The report, commissioned by the provincial government recommended the establishment of a regional green lands system. Kanter said "Not only should green lands be protected, but they should be linked wherever possible by trail systems, local parks, river valleys and other green corridors." The report placed special emphasis on

798-508: The biography-documentary of Sir Henry Pellatt, The Pellatt Newsreel: the Man who Built Casa Loma , which was nominated for a 2009 Gemini for Best Biography Documentary. TV show Hemlock Grove was also filmed there as well as The Mortal Instruments: City of Bones and related Shadowhunters . Exterior shots of the building were used in the Gothic TV show Strange Paradise . It is also

840-546: The city turn the mansion's management over to a new "Casa Loma Trust". However, a city manager's report in 2008 recommended extending the city's lease with KCCL for 20 years, and in July 2008, it was renewed. Meanwhile, from 1997 until 2012, the mansion underwent a 15-year, $ 33-million exterior restoration largely funded by the city, which also created a new board of trustees in 2008, including seven KCCL members and seven city appointees. The city's renewed management agreement included

882-522: 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

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924-459: The estate to others; Chateau des Quatre Vents at 3025 Queen Street East was built in 1892 by William T. Murray on land acquired from Pellatt former summer estate. E.J. Lennox built another home in front of 3025 and signed as 3027 Queen Street East in 1910. The estate was once on land owned by Peter Patterson and before that Clergy Reserve . Only the groundskeeper home remains and rest of the estate redeveloped into residential homes. His summer estate

966-496: The filming location of the 2016 TV film The Rocky Horror Picture Show: Let's Do the Time Warp Again , where scenes at Dr. Frank N. Furter's castle and the movie theatre where the audience participated were filmed. Ivy Levan 's performance of the song " Science Fiction Double Feature " was filmed at Casa Loma (a movie theatre marquee was placed at the front entrance of the castle for filming). In 2018, Casa Loma served as

1008-609: The first Chief Commissioner of the Girl Guides of Canada . Pellatt was born in Kingston , Canada West (now Ontario ), the son of Henry Pellatt (1830–1909), a Glasgow-born stockbroker in Toronto, and Emma Mary Pellatt ( née Holland). His great-grandfather was the glassmaker Apsley Pellatt . Pellatt had three sisters and two brothers, Fred Pellatt (grandfather of Toronto-based freelance writer John Pellatt) and Mill Pellatt (father of Mary Katherine Pellatt). The latter brother

1050-514: The first time, and also for his large château in Toronto, called Casa Loma , which was the biggest private residence ever constructed in Canada. Casa Loma would eventually become a well-known landmark of the city. His summer home and farm in King City later became Marylake Augustinian Monastery . Pellatt was also a noted supporter of the Boy Scouts of Canada . His first wife, Mary , was

1092-585: The furniture and other features of the mansion. Casa Loma has five acres of gardens. A tunnel connects Casa Loma to the Hunting Lodge and to the stables (garage, potting shed, stalls, carriage room , and tack rooms). The Oak Room (originally called the Napoleon Drawing Room) is the most decorated room in the house, and was used for formal occasions. It is encased in wood panels in the style of Grinling Gibbons , which took three artisans three years to carve. The highly ornamented plaster ceiling

1134-940: The large increase in property taxes for his castle, led him to rely solely on his real estate investments, which were unsuccessful due to the beginning of the First World War . After the province expropriated his electrical power generating business , and his aircraft manufacturing business was appropriated by Beck as part of the war effort during the First World War, Pellatt was driven to near-bankruptcy, which forced him and Lady Pellatt to leave Casa Loma in 1923. They therefore moved to their farm at Marylake in King City. Prior to building Casa Loma, Pellatt sold his summer retreat in Blantyre / Fallingbrook area of southwest Scarborough to his son Reginald and other parts of

1176-463: The mansion's tower; this room is notable for its doors and windows, which curve to follow the shape of the room. 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

1218-546: The massive stables, potting shed and Hunting Lodge (a.k.a. coach-house) a few hundred feet north of the main building. The Hunting Lodge is a two-storey 4,380-square-foot (407 m) 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 12 Courcelette Road remains) to his son and moved to

1260-405: The predecessor of Lake Ontario (coordinates 43°40′41″N 79°24′33″W  /  43.678°N 79.4093°W  / 43.678; -79.4093 ). Casa Loma affords views down the escarpment and Spadina Avenue into the heart of Toronto. The stables are located at 330 Walmer Road and the Hunting Lodge at 328 Walmer Road. Casa Loma is served by St. Clair West Station and Dupont Station on

1302-561: The regiment as a rifleman and rose through the ranks to become the commanding officer . He was knighted for his dedication to the regiment. Pellatt later served as the honorary colonel and was promoted to major-general upon retirement. During the depression that followed the war, the City of Toronto increased Casa Loma's property taxes from $ 600 per year to $ 1,000 a month, and Pellatt, already experiencing financial difficulties, auctioned off $ 1.5 million in art and $ 250,000 in furnishings. Pellatt

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1344-536: Was a Colonel and married with no children. Pellatt enlisted as a rifleman with The Queen's Own Rifles of Canada on 2 November 1876. He rose through the ranks and eventually became the Commanding Officer . In 1905, he was created a Knight Bachelor by King Edward VII for his service with The Queen's Own Rifles of Canada. In 1910, Pellatt took the entire 600-man regiment (including its horses) to England for military training at his expense, to mark

1386-497: Was able to enjoy life in the mansion for less than ten years, leaving in 1923. In late 1920s, investors operated Casa Loma for a short time as a luxury hotel. During Prohibition , it became a popular nightspot for wealthy Americans. The Orange Blossoms, later known as Glen Gray and the Casa Loma Orchestra , played there for eight months in 1927–1928. Shortly thereafter, they went on a tour of North America and became

1428-526: Was buried with full military honours. He is interred at Forest Lawn Mausoleum , north of Toronto. His life has been featured in the film The Pellatt Newsreel , which aired on the Biography Channel and was nominated for a 2009 Gemini for Best Biography Documentary. The film, narrated by Colin Mochrie , is shown continuously in the theatre at Casa Loma, which is located where the swimming pool

1470-598: Was destroyed in a fire in the 1920s. Pellatt later built Bailey House in Mimico , at the bend in Lake Shore near Fleeceline, overlooking the commercial stretch on Lake Shore (the house later became a Legion Hall and was demolished to make way for a roadway). He subsequently moved in with his chauffeur, Thomas Ridgway, and it was in this house that Pellatt died. After he died on March 8, 1939, thousands of people lined Toronto streets to witness his funeral procession, and he

1512-543: Was implicated in the Patti Starr affair . Starr, who was head of the National Council of Jewish Women, misused her position by having the organization make political contributions to the riding associations of prominent Liberal MPPs. Kanter's riding of St. Andrew-St. Patrick was among those who received these illegal contributions. In August, when Peterson shuffled his cabinet in the wake of the scandal, Kanter

1554-480: Was made by Italian craftsmen, and was enhanced by the use of indirect lighting in the ceiling. Among other fixtures, the room featured a 10 feet (3.0 m) high Louis XVI style faux-gilt carved light standard with 24 bulbs. Other rooms in Casa Loma include The Conservatory, a room that showcases plant life. The Conservatory also includes a fountain at one end of the room. The Round Room is designed to fit beneath

1596-702: Was made through investments in the railway and hydro-electric industries in Canada, including the Toronto Electric Light Company . He also made significant investment in the Cobalt Lake Mining Company during the Cobalt silver rush of 1903. Later in around 1915, using riches from his Cobalt Lake Mining Company, he invested in the fledging McIntyre Mines in Timmins Ontario. However, legislator Adam Beck launched

1638-531: Was not included. The Liberals were defeated by the Ontario New Democratic Party in the 1990 provincial election . Kanter's connection to the tainted Starr scandal was mentioned as one of the reasons that he finished third in his bid for re-election, 1,383 votes behind winner Zanana Akande of the NDP. Kanter now practises regulatory law with the firm of Macdonald Sager LLP. He serves on

1680-526: Was paymaster of the Toronto Electric Light Company , a job obtained for him by Pellatt. His sisters were Mary Kate, Marian Maria and Emily Mountford Pellatt. One of his nieces, Beatrix Hamilton, was married to Canadian economist and humourist Stephen Leacock . He was educated at Upper Canada College before leaving in 1876 to join his father's stock brokerage company, Pellatt and Osler, as a clerk. In 1882, Pellatt's father and Sir Edmund Boyd Osler parted ways, and Pellatt completed his apprenticeship and became

1722-421: Was planned to be. Several biographies have been written about Pellatt. In particular, Carlie Oreskovich's The King of Casa Loma gives a detailed and thorough account. His first wife's great-grandniece, Trelawny Linda Howell, also curates a website dedicated to his memory, CasaLomaTrust.ca. Ron Kanter Ronald M. Kanter (born February 25, 1948) is a former politician in Ontario, Canada. He served in

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1764-597: Was the largest private residence in Canada. 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). Most of the third floor was left unfinished, and today serves as the Regimental Museum for The Queen's Own Rifles of Canada . Pellatt joined

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