Location in British Columbia | |
Established | 1890 (construction), 1979 (museum) |
---|---|
Location | 1050 Joan Crescent Victoria, British Columbia V8S 3L5 |
Coordinates | 48°25′21.5″N123°20′37.5″W / 48.422639°N 123.343750°W |
Type | Historic house museum (Victorian era/Victorian architecture) |
Visitors | 150,000 per year |
Public transit access | Victoria Regional Transit System #11 and #14 bus |
Website | www.thecastle.ca |
Official name | Craigdarroch National Historic Site of Canada |
Designated | 1992 |
Craigdarroch Castle in Victoria, British Columbia, Canada, is a historic, Victorian-era Scottish baronial mansion. It was designated a National Historic Site of Canada due to its landmark status in Victoria. [1]
It was constructed in the late 19th century as a family residence for the wealthy coal baron Robert Dunsmuir and his wife Joan. Robert died in 12 April 1889, 17 months before construction on the castle was completed. His sons Alexander and James took over the role of finishing the home after his death. James also commissioned the construction of Victoria's second "castle": Hatley Castle located in Colwood, British Columbia. [2]
Upon the death of Robert Dunsmuir's widow, Joan, the Craigdarroch estate was sold to land speculator Griffith Hughes for $38,000 who subdivided the estate into building lots. [3] To stimulate sales during a slow real estate market, Griffiths announced that the home would be the subject of a raffle, to be won by one of the purchasers of the residential parcels carved from the estate. The winner, Solomon Cameron, mortgaged the home to finance other speculative ventures which failed, leaving him broke, and in 1919 ownership of the home passed to one of Cameron's creditors, the Bank of Montreal. [3]
The building later served as a military hospital, college, offices, and a conservatory, before it was re-purposed into a historical museum in 1979. The museum is currently owned by the Craigdarroch Castle Historical Museum Society, which is a private non-profit society, and is open to the public. The building is a tourist attraction, and receives 150,000 visitors a year.
The building was designated as a National Historic Site of Canada in 1992.
Since its completion in 1890, the building had six major occupants, including:
Craigdarroch Castle is believed to have cost as much as $500,000 when it was built, and included granite from British Columbia, tile from San Francisco, and an oak staircase prefabricated in Chicago. [5] When originally constructed Craigdarroch stood in grounds comprising 28 acres (110,000 m2) of formal gardens in Victoria's Rockland neighbourhood. [6] Craigdarroch Castle has 39 rooms and over 25,000 square feet (2,300 m2).
The four-story Craigdarroch Castle still has lavish furnishings from the 1890s and is known for its stained-glass and intricate woodwork. The Institute for Stained Glass in Canada has documented the stained glass at Craigdarroch Castle. [7]
The initial architect of the castle, Warren Heywood Williams, also died before completion of the home. His work was taken over by his associate, Arthur L. Smith, in 1890.
The castle contains many fine examples of paintings, sculpture, and carvings.
Royal Roads University is a public university with its main campus in Colwood, British Columbia, Canada. The university is located at Hatley Park National Historic Site on Vancouver Island and is the successor to the Royal Roads Military College (RRMC), which was originally a training base for naval officers and later Canadian Air Force and Army personnel. After the end of the Cold War, the college was decommissioned, however, it was reinstituted following negotiations between the Department of National Defence and the Government of British Columbia by which the Royal Roads University Act was passed, leading to the establishment of Royal Roads University in June 1995.
James Dunsmuir was a Canadian industrialist and politician in British Columbia. He served as the 14th premier of British Columbia from 1900 to 1902 and the eighth lieutenant governor of British Columbia from 1906 to 1909.
Royal Roads Military College (RRMC) was a Canadian military college from 1940 to 1995, located in Hatley Park, Colwood, British Columbia, near Victoria, British Columbia, Canada.
Government House of British Columbia is the official residence of the lieutenant governor of British Columbia in Victoria and is vice-regal residence. It has casually been described as "the Ceremonial Home of all British Columbians." It stands in the provincial capital on a 14.6-hectare (36-acre) estate at 1401 Rockland Avenue; while the equivalent building in many countries has a prominent, central place in the capital, the site of British Columbia's Government House is relatively unobtrusive within Victoria, giving it more the character of a private home.
Henry Croft was an Australian-born lumber and mining magnate on Vancouver Island from the 1880s to 1900s. Born in Australia, Croft moved to England at a young age and was educated there. He moved to Canada in 1883 and became involved in logging, purchasing the sawmill in Chemainus. Croft rose in prominence through his running of the mill, and further enhanced his standing by marrying a daughter of Robert Dunsmuir, a prominent industrialist on Vancouver Island. Croft was elected to the British Columbia Legislature in 1886, representing Cowichan, serving until 1894. He later became involved in mining on Mount Sicker, and founded the town of Crofton, British Columbia in 1902 as a place to house the smelter for mining. Croft is featured on the Netflix series Haunted wherein a family claims to have been haunted by his ghost.
Robert Dunsmuir was a Scottish-born Canadian businessman and politician.
Colwood is a city on Vancouver Island to the southwest of Victoria, capital of British Columbia, Canada. Colwood was incorporated in 1985 and has a population of approximately 19,000 people. Colwood lies within the boundaries of the Greater Victoria area or Capital Regional District, in a region called the Western Communities, or the West Shore. Set along more than 5 kilometres (3.1 mi) of oceanfront, this fast-growing seaside community is one of the 13 component municipalities of Greater Victoria.
Canadian Forces Base Esquimalt is Canada's Pacific Coast naval base and home port to Maritime Forces Pacific and Joint Task Force Pacific Headquarters. As of 2018, 4,411 military personnel and 2,762 civilians work at CFB Esquimalt.
Goldstream Provincial Park is a provincial park in British Columbia, Canada. It is known for the annual fall salmon runs in the Goldstream River, and the large numbers of bald eagles that congregate to feed at that time. The total size of the park is 3.79 km2. It is located in the city of Langford. Recreational fishing is only accessible to indigenous cultures, and not local non-indigenous residents.
Hatley Park National Historic Site is located in Colwood, British Columbia, in Greater Victoria. It is the site of Hatley Castle, a Classified Federal Heritage Building. Since 1995, the mansion and estate have been used for the public Royal Roads University. From the 1940s to 1995, it was used for the Royal Roads Military College, a naval training facility.
James Bay is a high density neighbourhood of Victoria, British Columbia, Canada. It is the oldest residential neighbourhood on the west coast of North America that is north of San Francisco. It occupies the south side of the Inner Harbour close to downtown. Access to the neighbourhood is along Belleville Street, Government Street, Douglas Street and Dallas Road.
The Dunsmuir House and Gardens is located in Oakland, California on a 50-acre (200,000 m2) site. The Dunsmuir House has a neoclassical-revival architectural style and is listed in the U.S. National Register of Historic Places. It is now used primarily for weddings, receptions, business gatherings and historical reenactment events.
Rockland is a historic neighbourhood of Victoria, British Columbia, Canada, located just southeast of downtown and northeast of Beacon Hill Park, and comprising the northern portion of the official city neighbourhood of Fairfield. Its boundaries are imprecise but the area roughly flanks Rockland Avenue.
Samuel Maclure was a Canadian architect in British Columbia, Canada, from 1890 to 1920. He was born on 11 April 1860 in Sapperton, New Westminster, British Columbia, to John and Martha Maclure. He studied painting at the Spring Garden Institute in Philadelphia from 1884 to 1885, and he was a self-taught architect. He married Margaret Catherine (Daisy) Simpson, an accomplished pianist and portrait painter, on 10 August 1889.
Founded in 1964, the Victoria Conservatory of Music (VCM) is a music school in Victoria, British Columbia, Canada. The VCM offers education, performance and music therapy. As a music school for the community, the VCM accepts students of all ages and musical abilities, and teaches in all musical genres including classical, contemporary and music technology. Each year, over 4,500 students take part in an array of disciplines including woodwinds, brass, percussion, keyboard, strings, voice, jazz, theory and composition, and programs such as music therapy, teacher training, early children’s music programs and Summer Music Academies. In addition, the VCM offers a two-year performance-oriented post-secondary diploma program in partnership with Camosun College, credits from which are transferable to every major university in Canada. The VCM was once located at Craigdarroch Castle, and also spent time in a building on the grounds of St. Ann's Academy, but is now located at 900 Johnson Street, a building previously used as a church by the United Church of Canada. as well as a second location at 210 – 1314 Lakepoint Way, Langford. Cambodian musician Hy Chanthavouth studied at VCM. Stephen Green is VCM's dean.
Dola Frances Dunsmuir Cavendish was a Canadian socialite, rumored to have been Tallulah Bankhead's long lasting companion.
St. Andrew's Presbyterian Church is a Presbyterian church in downtown Victoria, British Columbia, Canada. The congregation was founded in 1862 and the current church building was completed in 1890.
The Royal Roads Military College Band was the college military marching band for the Royal Roads Military College in Hatley Park, near Victoria, British Columbia, Canada. It was formed in 1975. The band was disbanded in 1995 following the closing of Royal Roads Military College.