This beautifully illustrated book tells the story of Casa Loma, Toronto's most famous historic site, and its owner, Sir Henry Pellatt.
Casa Loma took 300 men three years to build at a cost of $3.5 million. Completed in 1914, the castle was enjoyed by Pellatt for only ten years before bankruptcy took it from his hands. Today, Casa Loma is owned and operated by the City of Toronto. This book includes a visual tour of the building as it is today, restored to its turn-of-the-century splendour.
As well, author and historian Bill Freeman tells the colourful story of Pellatt's life, accompanied by a rich variety of archival images. Pellatt was an entrepreneurial and domineering Toronto financier with a central role in the city's financial life at the turn of the century. He lost his fortune and ended his days in very modest circumstances, but he left the city a dramatic landmark building.
Author Bill Freeman takes readers on a full tour of this dramatic hillside castle, illustrated with full-colour photographs by Vincenzo Pietropaolo.
Contents
Photo Credits
Acknowledgements
Floor Plans
1. Walking Tour
2. From Poverty to Prosperity
Early Toronto Days Young Man in a Hurry Rifleman Pellat Pellatt the Plunger
3. Pellatt the Promoter
The Finance Capitalist From Prosperity to Wealth Electric Power for the People
4. The Business of Soldiering
Social Life of the Pellatts Colonial Sir Henry Pellatt To Aldershot for the Empire
5. The Castle on the Hill
Dreams of Grandeur Designing the Dream The Dream Is Built
6. The Dream Shatters
Speculating on Land Life in the Castle Storm Clouds Gather Crisis, Crisis, Crisis The Auction of the Century The Fading Years
7. The Castle Find a New Life
The Apartment-Hotel Era Kiwanis Saves the Day The Funeral March
Afterword
Sources
"...well-balanced and highly readable"
- Steve Pitt Canadian Book Review Annual
BILL FREEMAN is a historian, novelist, and freelance writer. He is also the author of Hamilton: A People's History, published by Lorimer. VINCENZO PIETROPAOLO is a well-known Toronto photographer whose work is in many collections, including the Art Gallery of Ontario.
Customer Reviews:
Publication Details:
Binding: Paperback, 96 pages Publication Date: 26th June 2018 ISBN: 9781459413221 Format: 9in x 8.25in
150+ colour and b&w photographs
