Spadina House

Spadina House is a historic house museum in Toronto, Ontario. It was built in parts from 1866-1913 and is located next door to Casa Loma. For some reason, it is not as famous or talked about as Casa Loma is even though it is equally magnificent. One major difference between the two is that the Casa Loma is more of a big castle while Spadina house feels more cozy and regular house like with Victorian touch.  Also, at Spadina House there are timed tours that are provided in groups by a staff member.

Spadina House - Front View

Formal Sitting Area

A major part of the house is restored back to the era it belonged to, for example the wallpapers have been re installed because of the wear and tear. Also, most furniture supposedly belongs to the family who owned the house.

Indoor Garden

Indoor Garden 

This beautiful indoor garden was not a part of the original plan but was added later on by the house owner. Outside garden is also just as pretty as this indoor one. Apart from a large recreational area, there is an orchard with apple trees and decent sized vegetable garden. The little door at the floor of the indoor garden was specially built for the gardener as during those times gardeners, chauffeurs etc., were not allowed to enter the house from the front entrance.

Apple Orchard

The apartment that is visible right across the orchard in the above picture was specially made for the chauffeur. A tiny house was also built for the gardener but that is not exactly on the property. 

I highly recommend visiting Spadina House, it is very different from Casa Loma. The tour guide that lead the group was a very nice and patient lady. She explained everything with great detail and answered all the questions. It is open Tuesday - Sunday from 12 pm - 5 pm and have different timings for holidays, so please check there website for more information. 

Thank you for taking time to read this post, I hope you enjoyed it. Have a great day!

Casa Loma

Casa Loma is a historic house museum in Toronto, which was built over a three year period from 1911-1914 by Sir Henry Pellatt as his residential house but was later established as a museum in 1937. I have a thing for historic places, especially houses so this was on my list for quite a while. I am so glad that I finally made the visit to this beautiful house. Not just the interiors but even the garden outside is gorgeous.

Front Entrance - Casa Loma

First thing that I noticed was the height at which it is established. Even the houses around it have tiny stairs going up to their backyards and main door. But the long stairs end up in the beautiful garden and the magnificent view of Casa Loma.

Back Staircase from the road to Casa Loma

It was a pretty hot day, but still there were lots and lots of people there, and mostly with young children. So it was really crowded, but I kind of liked that because I would not like to go to such a huge house all alone. The most surreal experience for me was to go into the Tunnel. It was cold (which was awesome for such a hot day), dark, wet and old. So it was one of a kind experience.
Since there are so many people, they don't provide personal tour guides to everyone, so they have audio guides which you can pick up from the gift shop and then return it back before leaving. I believe they have the audio guides in English, French and Mandarin. At least that is what they had that day. The audio guides are basically palm sized devices that have recorded information about history of all the rooms and the dwellers.  

Lady Pellat's Suite

                

 Lady Pellat's Sitting Area

There is also a cafeteria with reasonably priced items in the basement right next to the gift shop. Elevator service is available for people with special needs. So, overall it is a really nice place to visit with family and friends. It is open everyday from 9.30 am - 5 pm. 

This is my first blog post and I don't really have a hang of it so I am really sorry about this choppy post. I am not sure but for some reason it is not allowing me to add any more photos or information. I promise I'll work on it and please let me know if you have any suggestions.

I hope you guys do visit and have a great time!