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Practice dictation & shadowing on the daily life story: Casa Loma
Casa Loma
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Casa Loma
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Many people visit Europe and see the old castles left from the days of knighthood.
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Very few return home with plans to build their own castle.
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Toronto businessman Henry Pellet actually built such a castle.
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Casa Loma Pellet was born in Kingston ON in 1859, but the family soon moved to Toronto.
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His father opened Toronto's first stockbrokerage firm in 1866.
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Pellet Senior became part of Toronto's financial elite, and Henry Pellet eventually joined his father in business.
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The young Pellet was especially attracted by the military and the British armed forces.
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When Henry was 18, he joined the Queen's Own Rifles, A militia unit.
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He was soon one of the soldiers sent to suppress a railway strike.
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At 21, he was made an officer and gradually moved up through the ranks, eventually becoming a Brigadier General.
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Meanwhile, Henry was learning the stock brokerage business.
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He soon showed considerable ability at forming new companies.
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Electricity was a recent invention, and Pellet hoped to be among the foremost developers.
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In 1883, he founded the Toronto Electric Light Company and later was an owner of the Toronto Electric Railway.
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He also made money as a land speculator in the Canadian W Unlike many businessmen of the time, however, Pellet believed in community service.
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He sponsored many charitable organizations and supported various good causes.
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In spite of his business dealings, Pellet found time to tour England and Europe regularly.
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He brought back ideas for a castle on the hill.
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Pellet's castle, however, would not be a damn drafty castle of the Middle Ages.
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It would have the latest technology.
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Construction of Casa Loma began in 1910 and was completed in 1914.
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Outwardly it looked like a medieval castle, but inside it was comfortable and luxurious.
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There were 98 rooms, 3 bowling alleys, 30 bathrooms, 25 fireplaces and 5000 electric lights.
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It had an electric elevator and an indoor swimming pool.
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There was a library of 100,000 bucks, a temperature controlled wine cellar, a shooting gallery and a large art collection.
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Pellet ordered only the most expensive materials and employed the best Craftsman.
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The cost of all of this was $3.5 million, a huge sum in those days.
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Pellet and his wife like to entertain.
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They often opened up Casa Loma for special events.
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Sometimes he would invite all 1000 men from the Queen's Own Rifles over for the weekend.
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The pellets also held parties for the staff.
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Pellet had hoped that Casa Loma would be the center of an extensive subdivision.
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He hoped that wealthy people would build grand homes nearby, and so he bought up the land near his castle.
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Unfortunately for Pellet, most of the people coming to Toronto were poor immigrants who couldn't afford large houses.
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Pellet was unable to sell his land holdings, and his income declined.
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In 1924, Pellet turned Casa Loma over to the City of Toronto because he could not pay his property tax.
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All the contents of Casa Loma went on auction soon after, his $1.5 million collection of art and artifacts sold for only $250,000.
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Now Casa Loma is a leading Toronto tourist attraction.
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The castle in the middle of the city has 400,000 visitors each year.
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It is the closest thing in North America to a real European castle.