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 ignavus
  
Location: Tdot
Gender: Male
 |  |  | Casa Loma article
< on 1/4/2008 4:53 PM >
|  | | | The city unseen: Casa Loma
Sir Henry's extravagant home holds architectural oddities, family treasures not on view to public
Jan 02, 2008 04:30 AM
Joanna Smith
Staff Reporter
There are few spaces the public is forbidden from exploring at Casa Loma – even a secret staircase and an underground tunnel leading to the stables are open for viewing.
Still, behind a locked door atop a tiny wooden staircase lies a labyrinthine series of lofts and an untouched tower the public cannot enter for fire safety reasons.
An old hayloft still holds the stench of horses. A staircase runs strangely through the middle of a dank and ancient staff bathroom.
It is unclear what Sir Henry Pellatt had in mind for the extraordinary number of rooms jutting off in all directions from winding red-brick hallways, but one theory is that architect E.J. Lennox used the stables, which were built first, to experiment with building techniques.
The strangest part is the tower itself, composed of four nearly identical rooms stacked on top of one another and reached by a spiralling metal staircase or trap doors in the floors and ceilings.
The uppermost room has four spaces carved out of the wall that look as if they should house statues. Legend says Pellatt was a Mason; museum staff say the room may have had a ceremonial purpose.
Organ pipes heard but not seen
Pipes mounted in the Great Hall are purely decorative – the real guts of the theatre organ at Casa Loma are found behind doors in the hallways.
The working Wurlitzer organ installed in Casa Loma was originally built for Shea's Hippodrome and was later at Maple Leaf Gardens. It is now the star of regular performances at Casa Loma by the Toronto Theatre Organ Society.
Sir Henry Pellatt never had a chance to hear his castle fill with organ music.
An organ he reportedly bought for $75,000 arrived just in time to be auctioned, still in its crate, for about $40.
Museum not sure what to do with these dusty gems
A musty basement room just off the tunnel leading to the stable holds a stash of dusty treasures the museum does not know exactly what to do with, including a large metal sign left over from the castle's brief days as a luxury hotel.
Another basement door conceals the room where the William Corman Engineering Company Ltd. went to work secretly on the ASDIC sonar device during World War II after the original production site was bombed during the London Blitz.
Tourists visiting Casa Loma, which had been a museum for about four years when the secret operation began in 1941, were kept out by a single padlock and a sign that read:
"Construction in progress. Sorry for the inconvenience."
Lock of hair, scrapbook among personal family items
Sir Henry Pellatt liked documenting his life in scrapbooks.
One such book is filled with newspaper articles and biting political cartoons about his struggle with the province over publicly owned electrical power, a battle that ultimately forced him to abandon his lavish home.
A cartoon carnival scene printed in The Toronto Daily Star on June 10, 1906, includes a caricature of Pellatt calling visitors to see a two-headed pig in a carnival scene.
Other treasures not on public display include family heirlooms donated by one of Pellatt's favourite nieces, Mary Katherine Pellatt.
One is a mid-Victorian locket containing a lock of hair. Another locket holds photographs of his niece as a baby and of her mother, Lucy, who was married to Henry Pellatt's brother Mill.
There is also a chain-mail Edwardian evening purse so delicate it feels like fabric and tin prints of her great-grandparents dating back to the 1840s.
"It made me very upset to see them because these are little things that really should have gone to family, not to a museum," said curator Joan Crosbie.
Original Article: http://www.thestar...ews/article/290332
[last edit 1/9/2008 2:55 AM by Avatar-X - edited 1 times]
Angels of the Underground
AOTU.ca |
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don cornelius
  
This member has been banned. See the banlist for more information.
Location: Your asshole.
Proud Parent
| | | Re: Casa Loma article
<Reply # 1 on 1/4/2008 5:04 PM >
| | | | This is an interesting place. Nice views of downtown skyline as well.
http://i274.photob...efske/DSCF7067.jpg
[last edit 1/9/2008 2:52 AM by Avatar-X - edited 1 times]
40+ year olds with Myspace pages are not cool, they are pediphiles on the prowl. Buyer beware. |
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Stewie
  
Location: Hamilton, Ontario
Gender: Male
kill your idols
| | | Re: Casa Loma article
<Reply # 2 on 1/4/2008 10:14 PM >
| | | | I *knew* there was tons of off-limits stuff in there, especially the stables. I went there often as a child and remember tons of areas that you could see went on and on behind velvet ropes or cages. There was a tower in the stables that you could look up and it quite obviously went somewhere you weren't intended to go. Theres also an entire room and a crawlspace that is out of bounds on the 2nd or third floor. You can't even enter the room, it's "velvet rope'd" off from the doorway. I must know what is in there.
I'm going there this summer, since all of my visits have been in the winter. I will be looking out for stuff this time. I haven't been there "in the name of UE" ever... just as a curious kid that liked castles (and maybe I still am).
> The hierarchy of power dictates that the person with the most power does the least amount of work and retains the highest benefit. |
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Lord
above and beyond
| | Re: Casa Loma article
<Reply # 3 on 1/4/2008 11:09 PM >
| | | | when I was a kid I went through some of those passages on school trips.. couldn't tell you where there are now but I remember the tour guide saying that the Place was HAUNTED
[last edit 1/5/2008 12:24 AM by Lord - edited 1 times]
I will defeat that which was once untouchable only so that I may now move on |
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Stewie
Location: Hamilton, Ontario
Gender: Male
kill your idols
| | | Re: Casa Loma article
<Reply # 4 on 1/4/2008 11:17 PM >
| | | | Oh come fucking on...
> The hierarchy of power dictates that the person with the most power does the least amount of work and retains the highest benefit. |
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HairyTheTaco
Location: The Hammer, Ontario
Gender: Male
| | Re: Casa Loma article
<Reply # 5 on 1/4/2008 11:32 PM >
| | | | Posted by Stewie
I *knew* there was tons of off-limits stuff in there, especially the stables. I went there often as a child and remember tons of areas that you could see went on and on behind velvet ropes or cages. There was a tower in the stables that you could look up and it quite obviously went somewhere you weren't intended to go. Theres also an entire room and a crawlspace that is out of bounds on the 2nd or third floor. You can't even enter the room, it's "velvet rope'd" off from the doorway. I must know what is in there.
I'm going there this summer, since all of my visits have been in the winter. I will be looking out for stuff this time. I haven't been there "in the name of UE" ever... just as a curious kid that liked castles (and maybe I still am).
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Stalker and I were checking the place out a year ago "in the name of UE" 
In my opinion, its not worth spending the $16 admission per person if you have already been to Casa Loma before, just to find out that a lot of the doors to the off limit areas are locked. If you never been to Casa Loma before, or if you can get in for free, than I can see a UE trip there as worthwhile.
In addition, when we went, a lot of the upper rooms were loaned out to some organization selling quilts. We would walk in a room expecting to see the room furnished in antique furniture, only to find quilts with price tags on them layed out on banquet tables.
[last edit 1/4/2008 11:33 PM by HairyTheTaco - edited 1 times]
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Stewie
Location: Hamilton, Ontario
Gender: Male
kill your idols
| | | Re: Casa Loma article
<Reply # 6 on 1/4/2008 11:34 PM >
| | | | Heh, quite disappointing but I still would like to go this year at least to do the tourist thing with pictures. UE will be more of a side objective.
> The hierarchy of power dictates that the person with the most power does the least amount of work and retains the highest benefit. |
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Lord
above and beyond
| | Re: Casa Loma article
<Reply # 7 on 1/5/2008 12:26 AM >
| | | | Posted by Stewie
Oh come fucking on...
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no really.. it was a staircase that was all sprially, I think it was a book case.. I mean I must have been like 8 or something, so I can't remember it too clearly.. but it's there!
and haunted.. by ghosts no less!
lol
I will defeat that which was once untouchable only so that I may now move on |
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Shawn W.
Location: Niagara Falls, NY
Gender: Male
Optimistic Pessimist
| |  | | Re: Casa Loma article
<Reply # 8 on 1/7/2008 10:24 PM >
| | | | Posted by Lord
and haunted.. by Lord Rick no less!
lol
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My father would probably find this article to be interesting.
What is a rebel? A man who says no. - Albert Camus |
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Jono
civilly disobedient.
| | | Re: Casa Loma article
<Reply # 9 on 1/8/2008 9:55 PM >
| | | | I used to live on the same street as the 'castle' (it's just a big mansion...of questionable historical value) - that being said, it was so much fun to sneak into the gardens at night...unfortunately, they installed motion beacons in the small hilly forested area just south of the building-proper because of this.
ps. and yes, the view of downtown is spectacular...
j.
[last edit 1/8/2008 10:00 PM by Jono - edited 1 times]
www.sacramentalperception.com : www.jonathancastellino.com |
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Lord
above and beyond
| | Re: Casa Loma article
<Reply # 10 on 1/9/2008 12:19 AM >
| | | | Posted by Jono
I used to live on the same street as the 'castle' (it's just a big mansion...of questionable historical value) -
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thems there are some pretty big houses.. I've been throughout there numerous times..
your family must have some serious bling going on there jono.
not too shabby
I will defeat that which was once untouchable only so that I may now move on |
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Lord
above and beyond
| | Re: Casa Loma article
<Reply # 12 on 1/9/2008 1:49 AM >
| | | | Posted by Jono
no, dude - I meant Davenport - I lived in a one-bedroom for a year and a half.
lol.
jono->
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still not a bad place.. nice walking distance to Honest Ed's and the Green Room
I will defeat that which was once untouchable only so that I may now move on |
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Lord
above and beyond
| | Re: Casa Loma article
<Reply # 14 on 1/10/2008 12:41 AM >
| | | | Posted by Jono
agreed. Green Room nacho platter FTW.
j->
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the bartender hotties are the best..
I was introduced there by my South American Doctor Friend, His Russian Hacker pal and a Porno Director!
good times, good times..
I drop by there once in a Blue Moon to have a beer.. That would make an awesome Meet Location.. Nice parking lot right close and everything..
hmmm...
I will defeat that which was once untouchable only so that I may now move on |
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