Casa Loma: Canada's Fairy-Tale Castle and Its Owner, Sir Henry Pellatt

by Bill Freeman, Vincenzo Pietropaolo (Photographer)

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.

Genres: History

72 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1998

About the author

Librarian note:
There is more than one author in the GoodReads database with this name

Born in London, Ontario of a school teacher's family, Bill now lives on Toronto Island where he writes books, plays, travel features, videos, and film scripts. He is best known for the "Bains Series" of novels for children set in Canada in the 1870s. There are now seven books in the series. He plans to write twelve altogether with settings in every part of the country. A film series by CBC and BBC is in the planning stages.

Reviews

[Christine · Rating 3 out of 5]

Full of infromation about Henry Pellatt. It makes a nice addition to the souvenir guide put out by Casa Loma itself. Nice illustrated. I would have liked a little more detail about Casa Loma after Pellatt's death.

[Jason Saunders · Rating 4 out of 5]

What an interesting read about a remarkable man. This piece of literature provides interesting information that complements the tour of the site. Henry Pellatt lived an amazing life, as a financier and philanthropist amongst other things. His rise from rags to riches, only to fall back to rags again teaches us an important lesson: care for those around you when you are on top of the world, then they will take care of you when you fall.

[Casey Kinsey · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great book, especially for those who have visited and want to know more about the history. quite in depth for a smaller read.

[David Fulmer · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a history and guidebook to Casa Loma, a massive castle-like home built in Toronto by businessman Sir Henry Pellatt and completed in 1914. Oddly, it wasn’t for sale in the gift shop the last time I visited but it should be because not only does it include a lengthy description of a tour of the home, going room by room and describing its furnishings, decorations, and art but it also includes a biography of Casa Loma’s builder. Pellatt was a businessman who was involved in many different businesses from stock brokerages to hydroelectricity and the author hints at the kind of dubious business dealings that Pellatt most likely benefited from in an era of little or no regulation in financial markets. It describes the immense fortune he created and some of the crazy things he did with it, of which building Casa Loma was only one. But Pellatt fell on hard times and there’s also a very fascinating and moving reversal of fortune which ended up with Pellatt losing pretty much all his money and his castle, ultimately living in an apartment and being invited back to Casa Loma to visit as a tourist, where he was photographed gazing up at a more youthful portrait of himself from an earlier time when he had the world on a string. This is an excellent book if you’ve visited or are thinking of visiting Casa Loma. It’s got wonderful color illustrations, historical photos, a lengthy description of the house and a wonderful biography of the man who conceived and built it.

[Matthew · Rating 3 out of 5]

I enjoyed the imagery in this book, however, I would have liked for it to be more detailed on the actual house. Things that aren't generally available to view like the kitchens would have been great.

[Jessica · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great to read after my visit! Informative but not too heavy for what it is

[Danielle Delaire-Aspin · Rating 4 out of 5]

A quick read about a prominent figure from Toronto's past.