Sunday, May 16, 2010

Toronto: Casa Loma












We went to Casa Loma.

Casa Loma (Spanish for Hill House) is now a museum and landmark in uptown Toronto, constructed in the Gothic Revival style.
It was originally a residence for financier Sir Henry Mill Pellatt.
Casa Loma was constructed over a three-year period from 1911-1914.
The house cost approximately $3.5 million and took a team of 300 workers three years to build from start to finish.
Sir Henry was able to enjoy life in the house for only less than ten years, leaving in 1923 due to the hardship after the Great Depression.
The city seized Casa Loma in 1933 for $27,303 in back taxes.
In 1937 it was opened to the public for the first time as a tourist attraction operated by the Kiwanis Club of Toronto.
I saw the picture on the wall that was taken in 1938 when he was coming back the first time visiting his "Home" and signing at the front entrance as a "Tourist".
I was thinking about the similar scenery in movie "The Last Emperor" when the last emperor of China "Pu Yi" came back visiting and paying his pennies at the entrance of "Forbidden City" as a tourist where it was used to be his home.
Money was powerful but things can't necessary be bought back by money all the time.
I don't know how they felt but for sure that was a time one needs to be very humble about all things going on in the life...