Friday, November 8, 2013

Saturday Snapshot - Casa Loma Part 2


October 2013 - Toronto ON

Other Casa Loma posts:
Weekly Top Shot
Saturday Snapshot Part 1

Check back to last week's post to see the ground floor and some background.
As a servant in this house you had a very good position. The house had indoor plumbing for the servants and had central heating, much like Dundurn Castle outside Toronto.
Another house that was a good position for servants was Campbell House.


Sir Henry's Suite: The walls are mahogany and walnut. A secret storage area beside the fireplace was used to store confidential documents.



A cast-iron winged creature holds a lamp in beak and sits on a lighted globe which is positioned on a pedestal and lit base. The pendant shade is made of cut red and green glass. This lamp was owned by Sir Henry Pellatt prior to and during the time he lived at Casa Loma. At some point it was purchased by Toller Cranston, the noted Canadian figure skater and was acquired by Casa Loma at the Toller Cranston Auction of 1991.


Sir Henry's Bathroom: The shower was structured to completely surround the body with spray manipulated by using 6 taps that controlled 3 levels of pipes. All the walls are outfitted with white Carrara marble. Now this room blew me away!!!!






Lady Pellatt's Suite: The walls are painted in Lady Pellatt's favourite colour: Wedgwood blue.




Lady Pellatt's Bathroom:Smaller than Sir Henry's, it had a bidet, a rare feature in Canadian homes at the time.





Guest Suite: One of several such elegant rooms, adjoined by maid's quarters. Continue through the Guest Suite to the stairway to the third floor.






Queen's Own Rifles Museum: Sir Henry was a dedicated supporter of the Queen's Own Rifles achieving the rank of Major General. The regiment's band was often engaged to entertain guests at the castle. In 1910, Sir Henry took the entire 600 man regiment to England for military games at his expense.



The Towers: For the adventurous climbers there are two towers available for viewing. The Scottish Tower to the east is enclosed and offers the highest view from the property. The Norman Tower on the west is open and provides a breathtaking view of the city. Access to the upper portions of the towers is by spiral staircase only.


My husband took the camera up.


The stables from the tower.



Me, waiting, I don't do narrow spiraling staircases!


Windsor Room: Sir Henry had hoped to have the Royal Family as guests in this room. it never happened.


Round Room: Designed to fit the space below the tower, this Adams-style room has custom shaped doors to fit the curved walls.






The pool beneath the Conservatory was never properly finished. The original plans called for the pool to be surrounded by cloisters, marble arches and gold swans around the edge. In fact, the pool and the entire basement of Casa Loma were used mainly for storage.





The horse stalls are constructed of mahogany while the floors are covered with Spanish tiles. In the stables each horse's name was displayed in a gold leaf at the head of each stall.




A large room where past and present Casa Loma gardeners plant material for use throughout the grounds.


We leave the castle and drive over to the stables, 800 feet away from the house connected by the tunnel.



5 comments:

  1. Wow. Wow. Wow. i especially liked the picture of the spiral staircase. Amazing.

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  2. Very cool! I got a kick out of that shower! I know it was probably state of the art then, but it looks like a torture chamber now!

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  3. What an amazing place - and that bathroom is incredible but more than a bit overpowering, and I don't think I could cope with six taps! I love the carpet in Lady Pellatt's suite, and the Wedgwood blue walls, and that gorgeous bright blue sofa. It's all very sumptuous - it's obvious no expense was spared and they had the very latest of everything, like the central heating and plumbing. My Snapshot is at http://goo.gl/Zlqhui

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  4. I agree with Anne...Wow! Very beautiful!!

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  5. Amazing. I'd love to live in those stables!

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