 | The castle took thee years and involved about 300 men and cost
more than $3 million. When it was built it was in the country. |
| Children often think this is a real castle, a real working
medieval castle. It is not, and Sir Henry and Lady Pellatt were not king and queen. |
| Three concrete animal figures sit on the peaks of the roofs; the
lion, unicorn and squirrel.. They each represent different qualities. |
| The castle was equipped with the most progressive of elements of
the time; a central vacuum system, extensive lighting, indirect lighting, refrigeration,
and indoor laundry. |
| When Sir Henry was born his father was bankrupt. When Sir Henry
died he was broke and living with his chauffeur. |
| In 1879, when he was 20, Sir Henry set the world record for
running the mile in a New York competition. |
| Sir Henry made fortunes from investing in western land
development, electrical and hydro power development, and northern mining. |
| The City of Toronto took Casa Loma for back taxed of about $33,000
in 1933 years after Sir Henry had relinquished control and after no buyers were found. |
| The fireplace in the Great Hall came from the dining room. |
| No nails were used in the flooring and Sir Henry would walk over
the floor in slippers and would have the wood ripped up if there was so much as a squeak.
Constructing the floor without nails or screws made it less likely for the floor to squeak
anyway. |
| the stone work was done by Scottish stone masons. The wall
surrounding the property was completed first of all. Architect E.J. Lennox selected and
sounded each of the approximately 250,000 stones to make certain they were of the right
color and strength. One story is that $1 was paid for each stone brought in and many came
from the ballast of chips. A story about the placing of a white-faced stone, the only
white-faced stone in the entire stretch of wall, was a story. |
| Flower beds (ferneries) on each side of the conservatory are
heated by a system of steam pipes. |
| In his prime, Sir Henry was worth about $17 million. |
| Sir Henry was six foot in height and weighed more than 200 pounds.
At the time being six foot put him in a rare category, although being 200 pounds didn't. |
| Lady Pellatt died a year after they had to leave Casa Loma. |
| Both Sir Henry's and Lady Pellatt's washrooms contained bidets. |
| Some of the last pieces to be installed on the castle were the
heraldic figures, the lion and unicorn. At the top of the stable tower is another figure,
a squirrel holding a nut. These figures represent Courage/Royalty, Imagintion/Fantasy, and
Industry/Saving. |
| During WW11, the stables and carriage house were used by Corman
Engineering Ltd., to assemble the radar used to detect submarines. |
