It might be hard to imagine Toronto as anything other than a sprawling metropolis,
but at one time, it was a small enclave in a vast, untamed wilderness. Hi everyone, ken here,
welcome to this house. Today we are exploring a Toronto mansion from over 200 years ago.
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To paint a picture of what Toronto once looked like, I’ll read you a quote.
In 1812, Mr Justice Boulton’s son, D’arcy Boulton
Junior built a modest brick cottage in the wilderness surrounding Toronto,
but he would not live here long. He headed across town to begin construction on his new mansion,
known as The Grange and sold the cottage to his brother in law, Chief Justice Sir John
Beverley Robinson who had gained the Queen’s honor by uniting upper and lower Canada.
Robinson quickly got to work enlarging the house. He added wings to the first floor,
then expanded the house upwards adding a second story. He then had the entire
house covered in a pale stucco and added a wrought iron regency style
verandah. Now that his house was complete, he began taming the wilderness that surrounded him
by planning formal gardens and outbuildings. When everything was built up, he sealed off
the estate with a towering brick wall and wrought iron gates facing Richmond Street.
The sumptuous interior provided a formal retreat from the wilderness. The entrance hall was
decorated with antiques and trophies accompanying portraits telling the story of Canada’s history.
All hung below millwork which had been painted in a bright white. At the end of the hall,
beyond the brightly colored floral rug, the stairs rounded out at their landing,
pivoting along the rooms central axis in line with a chandelier suspended from a segmental arch.
The drawing was filled with antique furniture which were arranged conversationally over
layers of rugs. This room doubled as an art gallery boasting paintings and
sculptures. You will notice curtains hung as room dividers, one theory is that this would
help cut down on winter drafts, another was that it was used for separating the
men and women during parties. Let me know your thoughts down below in the comments section.
Continuing on, the Library was finished out with built in walnut book shelves set against
damask wallpaper. A hand stenciled ceiling seemed to float above the classically styled
fireplace providing a visual anchor amongst the family portraits which surrounded it.
The dining room’s walnut wainscotting ran below floral wall paper on the room’s interior walls,
however, it did not continue onto the exterior walls. The fireplace was inlaid with a tile mosaic
facing the square table set below a chandelier suspended from a gilted plaster medallion.
Though we don’t have pictures of the bedrooms, we can imagine that this theme from the second
floor landing might have continued through each door off the central hall.
Robinson enjoyed this home with his family until 1838 when he fell ill. He and his wife moved to
England to seek advanced medical care and rented out their house in the meantime. Their Tennant,
Charles Poulett Thomson was the first Governor General of the newly united
Canada and would host parties of 150 people at the house as often as once per week.
During this time, the Famous Author Charles Dickens visited for a dinner
party after which he wrote “The wild and rabid toryism of Toronto is,
I speak seriously appalling.” Commenting on the English politics which ran the city.
Later, , Robinson returned to the house to live out his final days. He left the estate to his son,
Christopher happily lived out the rest of his life in the house, bringing up a family with
his loving wife Elizabeth. By this time, in 1910, Toronto was unrecognizable. Long
gone were the days of uncharted deer paths and wild bears attacking live stock. Urban sprawl
saw new homes being built everyday with paved roads leading to factories. Elizabeth decided
to sell the estate to the Honorable George Cox to reside in as an esteemed member of Canada’s
political arena with the agreement that he would preserve it for future political elites. But
George did something dishonorable, he subdivided the estate and sold it off to the highest bidder,
knowing that the house would be torn down and replaced with factories. In 1913,
the house was demolished by the Methodist Book and Publishing House for a bible printing factory.
Thankfully, Elizabeth had caught word of George’s betrayal and had the opportunity to salvage most
of the architectural elements from the home before it was demolished. She built an exact
replica of the house at 355 St. Clair Avenue. Everything from the bookshelves to the front door,
from chandeliers to walnut paneling were reinstalled at the new location.
Elizabeth wanted the house to persist as it had been the host to some of
the most significant events in Canadian history. As she aged into her final years,
she began searching for someone worthy of owning the house and continuing its
legacy. She sold it to Horace B Smith whose daughter, Jean, was engaged to marry Lt.
Colonel Billy Barker on the condition that their wedding would take place in the house.
Billy Barker was the most celebrated war hero in Canadian History. He received the Victorian
Cross after shooting down 50 enemy planes during world war one. While in the heat of the dogfight,
his plane was shot down, but even though he was missing body parts and the engines had failed,
he still managed to take out 3 more planes before surviving a crash landing.
Billy and Jean proudly lived in the house for 9 years until Billy met his fate while test piloting
a new military jet. In the same year, Jean’s mother died and the house became a place she
couldn’t escape heartbreak. She began searching for a worthy owner of the house just as Elizabeth
had, in hopes of upholding tradition. She sold it to the Ursulines School who retrofitted it to
better accommodate learning. Unfortunately, when the school had outgrown the building,
they did not follow through with tradition. Much like George Cox, they sold the property to the
highest bidder and it was demolished and replaced by high rise apartments.
After so many attempts were made to save the house, what do you think of
its fate? Let me know down below in the comments section. And while you’re there,
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