Sir Henry Pellatt, the dreamer behind Toronto's famous landmark, Casa Loma, was born in Kingston, Ontario on January 6, 1859 to British parents. Ambitious from his youth, Sir Henry left his studies at Upper Canada College when he was seventeen to pursue a career in commerce in the family business. By the age of 23 he became a full partner in his father's stock brokerage firm, from that time on known as Pellatt and Pellatt. That year was also marked by his marriage to Mary Dodgeson, whom he met when he was twenty.

Even as a young man, Henry Pellatt embraced the spirit of the family motto "Devant Si Je Puis" - "Foremost if I can." When he met his bride-to-be, Sir Henry had already achieved local renown in 1879 for beating the U. S. amateur champion in the running of the mile. Travels in Europe gave him the love for fine art and architecture which would spur his vision of Casa Loma, his "house on the hill." This romantic side was uniquely juxtaposed by his other lifelong passion: his involvement with the military, specifically the Queen's Own Rifles.

As a partner in Pellatt and Pellatt, Sir Henry was a business visionary. In the same year that Thomas Edison developed steam-generated electricity, Sir Henry realized that supplying electricity could be extremely profitable. He founded the Toronto Electric Light Company in 1883. By the time he was thirty, the Toronto Electric Light Company enjoyed a monopoly on the supply of street lighting to the city.

In 1892 his father retired, enabling Sir Henry to invest with more risk. Despite vigorous discouragement from his friends he purchased stock in the Canadian Pacific Railroad and in the North West Land Company. As with steam-generated electricity, his intuition was right on target. A liberal immigration policy led to opening of the Canadian west which led to healthy profits from his investments in both the Canadian Pacific Railroad and in the North West Land Company.

By 1901, Sir Henry was chairman of 21 companies with interests in mining, insurance, land and electricity. In 1902, he and his partners won the rights to build the first Canadian hydro-generating plant at Niagara Falls. He was knighted in 1905 for his military service with the Queen's Own Rifles.

Pellatt's Midas touch continued through most of his business life. In 1911, armed with a fortune of $17 million, Pellatt drew up plans to build his dream castle with Canadian architect E. J. Lennox. The land on which he planned to build had been given a name by its previous owner: "house on the hill" or Casa Loma.

Casa Loma took three years and $3.5 million to build. Sir Henry filled Casa Loma with artwork from Canada and around the world. Casa Loma stood as a monument to its creator - it surpassed any other private home in North America. With its soaring battlements and secret passageways, it paid homage to the castles and knights of days gone by.

Sir Henry's numerous business and military connections demanded entertaining on a large scale. Casa Loma's romantic borrowing from the past, tempered by necessary modern day conveniences, provided the perfect setting. In the height of their years at the Castle, the planning of such a busy social calendar consumed much of Lady Pellatt's time.

In addition to hosting grand social events, the Pellatts were involved in a number of philanthropic projects. Sir Henry was a trustee and benefactor of Trinity College and a strong supporter of Grace Hospital. The organization of the St. John's Ambulance Brigade in Canada is due largely to his efforts. Lady Pellatt, in spite of her frequent confinement to a wheelchair, played an active role in the promotion of Girl Guides in Canada. She was appointed the first Commissioner of the Girl Guides of Canada and in 1919 was honoured with the Girl Guides' highest award, the Silver Fish.

Camelot crumbles
Unfortunately, Sir Henry's fortunes could not sustain the magic that was Casa Loma. To finance expansion, Pellatt and Pellatt went further and further into debt. The one sure source of income from the monopoly of electrical power vanished when political decisions allowed for public ownership of electricity. In a futile attempt to restore his wealth, Sir Henry turned to land speculation. He was convinced that well-to-do Torontonians would rush to build homes around his castle.

However, in this case his entrepreneurial sense did not take into account the effects of World War I; during the war Canadians put their money into war bonds, not homes. After the war the economy slumped, tilting Pellatt and Pellatt into bankruptcy. The company owed the Home Bank of Canada $1.7 million - or in today's terms $20 million. With his stock worthless and his business debts out of control, Sir Henry was faced with a heartbreaking decision - a decision which he would always claim was made for him by the City's immovable tax assessors. Faced with an extraordinary tax bill, Sir Henry had no choice but to auction off his prized possessions for a fraction of their worth and to abandon his dream of a noble castle.

The Pellatts moved to their farm in King township in 1924. Lady Pellatt, weakened by the strain of the move and the financial difficulties, passed away later that year at the age of sixty-seven.

Though he lost a great fortune, Sir Henry never lost his spirit of philanthropy, a character trait for which he was honoured late in life. His service of fifty years with the Queen's Own Rifles was celebrated on June 27, 1926 with a march past of 500 men complete with the circling overhead of three military planes. When Henry died on March 8, 1939, thousands lined Toronto streets to witness his funeral procession. He was buried with full military honours befitting an old soldier who had given so much to his country.

The years in between
After Sir Henry Pellatt left Casa Loma, it sat vacant while proposals were considered for its future use. In 1925, one year after Sir Henry retired to his farm in King, the architect William Sparling put forward a proposal to convert the house to a luxury hotel.

William Sparling was granted a long-term lease, and began the process of completing the Great Hall and the Billiard Room, areas that Sir Henry had never himself finished. He also had plans to add two large wings to the east and west sections of the main building that would each contain 96 full suites and 56 rooms. These wings, costing approximately $1 million, were never built. A New York syndicate offered to purchase the Castle in 1928, but the deal was never completed and the hotel failed in 1929.

During the late 1920's, Casa Loma was also a popular nightspot. The Orange Blossoms, later known as Glen Gray and the Casa Loma Orchestra, were booked to play for eight months at Casa Loma in 1927 - 28. Shortly thereafter, they went on tour of North America with their big band sound.

With the onset of the Depression, Casa Loma sat vacant until 1933, when the City took the property for $ 27,303.45 in back taxes. Suggestions for possible uses of the building included a high school, a museum, an art gallery, a war veteran's convalescence home and later, a permanent residence for the Dionne quintuplets. None of the projects proved feasible and the City considered demolishing the castle. In 1936, The Kiwanis Club of West Toronto proposed that they operate the Castle as a tourist attraction. The City of Toronto agreed and in 1937 Casa Loma opened to the public after extensive refurbishment by The Kiwanis Club.

Today

Casa Loma, one of Toronto's premier tourist attractions, is visited by tourists, year-round
An unabashed romantic, Sir Henry engaged the noted architect E.J. Lennox to help him realize a life-long dream - the creation of a 'medieval' castle on the brow of a hill overlooking Toronto. Begun in 1911, it took 300 men nearly 3 years to complete and cost $ 3,500,000 at that time.

Sir Henry enjoyed Casa Loma for less than ten years before financial misfortune forced him to abandon his castle home. Today this unique piece of Canadian history is open daily as a tourist attraction and hospitality venue. Casa Loma is owned by the City of Toronto and has been developed and operated by the Kiwanis Club of Casa Loma since 1937. Casa Loma is financially self-sufficient and contributes close to $1 million annually to the City in licence fees and taxes. Net proceeds from the operation of Casa Loma support a wide range of the Kiwanis Club's charitable works.

Under the careful stewardship of the Club and its professional staff, the Castle remains one of Toronto's top ten tourist attractions and hospitality venues. In 1998, 375,000 visitors toured the Castle and gardens. A perfect backdrop for special occasions, the castle played host to over 200 functions with almost 30,000 guests attending during the year. Casa Loma's unique architecture has also made it a highly desirable location for film, television and photography shoots.

The tour of the castle is self-guided. Visitors can experience the castle at their leisure with the aid of an audio cassette and floor plan brochure. Casa Loma provides audio cassettes and tour brochures in the following eight languages: English, French, German, Japanese, Mandarin, Korean, Italian and Spanish.

The enchanting Casa Loma Gardens are open May through October and provide visitors with an opportunity to stroll through five acres of formal and informal specialty areas alive with colour and fragrance.



Gardens

The Gardens of Casa Loma portray a wide variety of specialty garden areas in a unique and balanced setting. The formality and elegance of the perennial borders provide a distinct contrast to the vibrant show of spring wildflowers. Artistic displays of annuals find strength in their colour schemes while the many flowering shrubs and trees provide an impressive array of foliage, texture and form. The ever-changing colours of this brilliant floral mosaic allow visitors to enjoy the beauty of the Casa Loma Gardens all season long.
The original Gardens of Casa Loma once occupied a portion of land located on the north side of Austin Terrace. The gardens were modeled after an English Gentlemen's Garden containing a series of parterres with gravel paths, vegetable gardens, flowers and fruit trees. A greenhouse complex featuring a potting shed and conservatory served as a work area for a staff of three gardeners who tended to the magnificent grounds.

Unfortunately, with the demise of Sir Henry's financial resources much of the original land had to be sold and eventually he was forced to leave his dream castle. With the passing of time, the original gardens succumbed to the forces of nature.

Nature Revived!

In 1987, the Kiwanis Club of Casa Loma approached The Garden Club of Toronto with the interesting prospect of renovating the existing grounds of Casa Loma. An agreement was reached between the Kiwanis Club, The Garden Club and the City of Toronto that would provide the massive renovation of five acres of Casa Loma property.

The project was not intended to be a historical restoration of the gardens as natural changes in the vegetation of the area made this impossible.

The new garden was designed as a series of specialty garden areas, taking into account specific site conditions. In an effort to retain as much historical significance as possible, certain elements of the original gardens have been incorporated into the new design. For example, Sir Henry's two stone stairways at the east and west ends of the property were rebuilt using the original stone. Also, the original carriageway that winds up the hill from the Davenport Road gates was cleared and converted into a pleasant, shady path.

The renovation of the Gardens at Toronto's historic Casa Loma, undertaken by The Garden Club of Toronto, was a five year project begun in 1987 at a cost of $1.5 million dollars. Funding from The Garden Club of Toronto, The Kiwanis Club of Casa Loma, corporations, foundations, individuals and government created a setting fit for a castle. In 1990, the Gardens were officially opened. Today, the Gardens are operated and maintained by the Casa Loma gardening staff.



Interesting:
The stained glass dome, which cost $12,000, as well as the marble on the Conservatory floors are from Italy.
The Pellatt family crest reads: “Devant Si Je Puis”, which means “Foremost if I can”.
The staff of over 40 people, which was required to maintain the castle, was paid a sum of $22,000 a year.
The stables were built in 1906, four years before the construction of the castle, and cost $250,000 to build.
The castle has two towers. The West Tower is of Norman design and the East Tower is of Scottish design.
Casa Loma was designed by Canadian architect, E.J. Lennox, who also designed Toronto’s Old City Hall.
King George V offered to purchase Sir Henry’s favourite horse, Prince, but Sir Henry refused to part with him.
Casa Loma was built between the years 1911 and 1914 and it took 300 men and approximately $3.5 million to complete.
Sir Henry was born in Kingston, Ontario on January 6, 1859.
Lady Mary’s 3,000 square foot suite is decorated in her favourite colour scheme: Wedgewood blue and white
Sir Henry and Lady Mary Pellatt had an extensive collection of Elizabethan, Chippendale and Louis XIV furniture.
The castle has a total of 22 fireplaces.
The Castle foundations are set 45 feet deep and, at points of stress, they measure 15 to 24 feet wide.
Sir Henry died at the age of 80 on March 8, 1939, and rests at the Forest Lawn Mausoleum in Toronto.