Saturday 16 June 2012

Xavier's School for Gifted Youngsters...



...I almost peed my pants when I realized that is where I was!  


The exterior of Casa Loma was also the exterior of the X-Mansion


I have been itching to post for days, but I have honestly not had a free moment this past week. The good part is, that my parents are here visiting which means that I have TONS of things to post about. 

The other day,  the Blogger Boyfriend was insisting that we go to this place called "Casa Loma". It was either that or "The Bata Shoe Museum" (which tells history through shoes - I know! How cool, right?!).  We finally decided to leave the shoe museum for another day because "Casa Loma" was something that would be amusing for all of us (as opposed to just my mom and I).


Even though I am most interested in anything artsy, historic, etc, I really wanted to go to the shoe museum because Casa Loma was just another one of those mini-castle mansion places that have been turned into a museum, and quite frankly they all look the same and I have been to quite a number all over the world. In fact, there was one in Montreal called "Club Mount Stephen" where we used have brunch while this chick played a harp, so while not opposed,  I was not particularly enthused about going to Casa Loma....



That was until we were waiting in line to pick up our audio tour devices, and I saw that a whole bunch of movies had been filmed there. And that is when I realized where I was: I was at the freakin' X Mansion (or parts of it)!! I swear, I almost peed my pants (or my dress for that matter). My outlook was completely different after this discovery.


I am wearing a Victoria's Secret Maxi dress with a blue flower/ paisley pattern. My dad is wearing a suit as always... and the Bally Shoes...
Some of the corridors and rooms of the mansion were also used in the film. Unfortunately, being the irresponsible blogger that I am, I forgot to bring my camera and had to rely on my mother's iPad for pictures. So forgive me in advance for their poor pixely quality.


The pictures below of the Casa Loma X-corridor and conservatory I borrowed from the net, because the ones I took look really dark and do not do the place justice:


corridor main floor
conservatory main floor (I believe this is where class took place...)

Obviously, the mansion has quite a history behind it as well as other interesting facts other then being the X-mansion.
So here are some of the best pictures I managed to take along with a little history. 


Casa Loma was built in 1911 by Financier Sir Henry Pellatt. Sir Henry is most famous for bringing hydro-electricity to Toronto and for his mansion of course.
It cost him $3.5 million dollars at the time. The mansion was built on 25 lots of land and and has 98 rooms (it's hunting lodge alone measures 4300 square feet).


Garage, Stables & Potting Shed


The garage, stables and potting shed are actually on the other side of the street.  Sir Henry Pellatt had a 224 meter tunnel built 5.5 meters under ground so that he did not have to actually cross the street in the winter and/or be bothered be people :p


stables
stables
potting shed & an old school lawn mower...


The Main Floor


living room


Dining Room




Other than the rooms pictured, the first floor also had a smoking room, a library, a study (with a secret passage to the wine cellar and the second floor), a ball room, a billiard (or pool) room, kitchen, a food preparation room (which had a specific name which I cannot recall at the moment), the conservatory (most beautiful room of the entire house) and access to the gardens and pool.

Second Floor
guest room

Sir Henry's room

Sir Henry's bathroom (separate from lady Pallett's bathroom)

Sir Henry's drawing room
Lady Pallett's room
Lady Pallett's drawing room part I
Lady Pallets drawing room part II

Lady Pallets closet and some early 20th century fashion




Other than Financier Sir Henry was also a well known soldier.  In 1910 Sir Henry took  a 600 man regiment and their horses at his expense to England for military training.



Mary Dodgson a.k.a. Lady Pellatt was the first chief commissioner of the The Girl Guides of Canada.

The third floor and Tower

 The third floor basically had rooms that were like Sir Henry's personal museums. Rooms such as WorldWar I room (he was apparently a war aficionado), and The Queens Own Rifle's room.  It also had the servants quarters, and the stairs to the towers.


If you are ever around the Toronto area this is a fun place to go and visit. Also, this is the ONLY place I have been to in Canada that is wedding appropriate. I am sure there are tons of places that I have not seen. But this one has gardens and rooms that would blow your mind for a wedding. For more info you can visit the Casa Loma website.

Of course at the end of our tour,  my mom and I could not resist but make us all get this picture taken in early 1900's attire (they have this service there as well).  It took me about 20 minutes to convince my father to do this with us :P  His Samurai "I will kill you for making me do this" face was well worth the effort :p



Since we have been carrying out tourist activities with my parents, I thought today's Kabbalah tune up was quite appropriate:


"We start off in life as tourists, but often we turn into spies. Tourists come to see the good, to enjoy the journey, to notice everything this place has to offer. Tourists are upbeat, excited and happy to be visiting. Spies look for problems, always figuring out what’s wrong, sniffing out the bad and the weak.

If you want to be happy, then learn to live life with the consciousness of a tourist."



- Yehuda Berg

1 comment:

  1. Dude, how can you inhabit North of the Wall and not know it's geography? Casa Loma is also the site where Scott Pilgrim battles Lucas Lee.

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ILwoKfeDJO4

    ReplyDelete