Casa Loma

Casa Loma at 1 Austin Terrace in Toronto is a Gothic Revival castle built between 1911 and 1914 for financier Sir Henry Mill Pellatt, who had accumulated a fortune through early electrification projects in Ontario. The 98-room structure includes a great hall with 18-metre ceilings, a mahogany-panelled library, a conservatory modelled after those at Kew Gardens, two round towers offering panoramic views of the Toronto skyline and Lake Ontario, and six underground passages including a tunnel to the stables 250 metres away. Pellatt lived in the house for fewer than 10 years before financial difficulties forced him to abandon it in 1923; the City of Toronto eventually took the property for unpaid taxes and it has operated as a public attraction since 1937. Audio guides in 11 languages guide visitors through the main rooms; supplementary film sets and costumes from productions shot here add a cinematic layer to the historical tour. Escape rooms bookable in advance occupy sections of the lower floors and tunnels. The Italianate gardens on the south terrace overlook the city and are at their best in summer. Casa Loma is located in the Annex neighbourhood and can be reached by walking uphill from the Dupont subway station in under 10 minutes.