University Of Toronto President's Estate

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main house and Conservatory & Ailanthus 93 Highland conservatory.jpg
main house and Conservatory & Ailanthus

The University Of Toronto President's Estate is a 3.5-acre (1.4 ha), 32 room residence for the University of Toronto's president located in the neighbourhood of Rosedale in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. The property overlooks the Park Drive Reservation Ravine formed by Yellow Creek [1] and goes from Highland Avenue halfway down to the floor of the ravine. The house was built between 1908 and 1910 by Toronto architects Wickson and Gregg. It was the home of gold-mining magnate David Dunlap and his philanthropist wife, Jessie (who donated the David Dunlap Observatory to U of T in 1935 in honour of her late husband). After Mrs. Dunlap's death (1946), the house went through one owner before being purchased in 1956 by U of T as a suitable residence for its president. [2]

University of Toronto university in Toronto, Ontario, Canada

The University of Toronto is a public research university in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, located on the grounds that surround Queen's Park. It was founded by royal charter in 1827 as King's College, the first institution of higher learning in the colony of Upper Canada. Originally controlled by the Church of England, the university assumed the present name in 1850 upon becoming a secular institution. As a collegiate university, it comprises eleven colleges, which differ in character and history, each with substantial autonomy on financial and institutional affairs. It has two satellite campuses in Scarborough and Mississauga.

Rosedale, Toronto Neighbourhood in Toronto, Ontario, Canada

Rosedale is a neighbourhood in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, which was formerly the estate of William Botsford Jarvis, and so named by his wife, granddaughter of William Dummer Powell, for the wild roses that grew there in abundance. It is located north of Downtown Toronto and is one of its oldest suburbs. It is also one of the wealthiest and most highly priced neighbourhoods in Canada. Rosedale has been ranked the best neighbourhood in Toronto to live in by Toronto Life. It is known as the area where the city's 'old money' lives, and is home to some of Canada's richest and most famous citizens including Gerry Schwartz, founder of Onex Corporation, and Ken Thomson of Thomson Corporation, the latter of whom was the richest man in Canada at the time of his death in 2006.

Toronto Provincial capital city in Ontario, Canada

Toronto is the provincial capital of Ontario and the most populous city in Canada, with a population of 2,731,571 in 2016. Current to 2016, the Toronto census metropolitan area (CMA), of which the majority is within the Greater Toronto Area (GTA), held a population of 5,928,040, making it Canada's most populous CMA. Toronto is the anchor of an urban agglomeration, known as the Golden Horseshoe in Southern Ontario, located on the northwestern shore of Lake Ontario. A global city, Toronto is a centre of business, finance, arts, and culture, and is recognized as one of the most multicultural and cosmopolitan cities in the world.

Gardens and natural history

The upper lawn is bounded by mature Quercus and Acer saccharum on the north with a single mature specimen of Acer saccharinum and Ailanthus altissima next to the thirty two room estate house and a Robinia pseudoacacia on the Eastern edge of the half acre lawn.

<i>Acer saccharum</i> species of plant

Acer saccharum, the sugar maple or rock maple, is a species of maple native to the hardwood forests of eastern Canada, from Nova Scotia west through southern Quebec, central and southern Ontario to southeastern Manitoba around Lake of the Woods, and the northern parts of the Central and Eastern United States, from Minnesota eastward to the highlands of the upper eastern states and the interior Midwest. Sugar maple is best known for its bright fall foliage and for being the primary source of maple syrup.

<i>Acer saccharinum</i> species of plant

Acer saccharinum, commonly known as silver maple, creek maple, silverleaf maple, soft maple, large maple, water maple, swamp maple, or white maple—is a species of maple native to the eastern and central United States and southeastern Canada. It is one of the most common trees in the United States.

<i>Ailanthus altissima</i> A deciduous tree in the family Simaroubaceae, native to northeast and central China and Taiwan

Ailanthus altissima, commonly known as tree of heaven, ailanthus, or in Chinese as chouchun, is a deciduous tree in the family Simaroubaceae. It is native to both northeast and central China, as well as Taiwan. Unlike other members of the genus Ailanthus, it is found in temperate climates rather than the tropics. The tree grows rapidly and is capable of reaching heights of 15 metres (49 ft) in 25 years. While the species rarely live more than 50 years, some specimens exceed 100 years old. Its remarkable suckering ability makes it possible for this tree to clone itself almost indefinitely.

A steep grassed slope flows south to the second terrace where the greenhouses, sheds and cold frames are located on the west side and a large gazebo situated beneath two large Salix babalonica which have since, blown down in a windstorm in the early 2000s. Beneath a stone step lies the remains of a family pet whose name (Billy, 1947) is inscribed upon the stone. From here the second slope; peppered with Syringa vulgaris and stumps of trees and shrubs long gone, flows onto the third terrace where several varieties of Malus grow, along with Euonymus europaeus , Sorbus aucuparea and Robinia pseudoacacia .

<i>Syringa vulgaris</i> species of plant known as lilac

Syringa vulgaris is a species of flowering plant in the olive family Oleaceae, native to the Balkan Peninsula, where it grows on rocky hills. This species is widely cultivated as an ornamental and has been naturalized in other parts of Europe, as well as much of North America. It is not regarded as an aggressive species, found in the wild in widely scattered sites, usually in the vicinity of past or present human habitations.

<i>Malus</i> genus of plants

Malus is a genus of about 30–55 species of small deciduous trees or shrubs in the family Rosaceae, including the domesticated orchard apple – also known as the eating apple, cooking apple, or culinary apple. The other species are generally known as crabapples, crab apples, or wild apples.

<i>Euonymus europaeus</i> species of plant

Euonymus europaeus, the spindle, European spindle, or common spindle, is a species of flowering plant in the family Celastraceae, native to much of Europe, where it inhabits the edges of forest, hedges and gentle slopes, tending to thrive on nutrient-rich, chalky and salt-poor soils. It is a deciduous shrub or small tree. Other names include fusoria, fusanum, ananbeam, shemshad rasmi (Iran), while it may have given its name to the ancient Greek settlement of Euonymeia.

The greenhouses and grounds had been abandoned for six months except for some grass cutting by the University of Toronto Grounds Department in 1981 as the Estate Gardener had died that spring. It took the next Estate Gardener two weeks to get the two growing greenhouses and sheds up to working condition and it wasn't until September that the plants in the conservatory were transplanted, divided, cleaned and rejuvenated.

After the Fall season it was discovered that the lower of three tiers was in reality a half acre terraced rock garden with two large concrete ponds and a 300 foot artificial stream running to it from the east side of the upper lawn. The forest is composed primarily of Fagus sylvatica , Quercus rubra , Betula papirifera, Acer rubrum , A. saccharum, Ostria and Robinia pseudoacacia . The half acre rock garden encompasses the entire lower western section of the estate covering three smaller slopes and two smaller terraces.

<i>Fagus sylvatica</i> species of plant

Fagus sylvatica, the European beech or common beech, is a deciduous tree belonging to the beech family Fagaceae.

<i>Quercus rubra</i> species of plant

Quercus rubra, commonly called northern red oak or champion oak, is an oak in the red oak group. It is a native of North America, in the eastern and central United States and southeast and south-central Canada. It grows from the north end of the Great Lakes, east to Nova Scotia, south as far as Georgia, Alabama, and Louisiana, and west to Oklahoma, Kansas, Nebraska, and Minnesota. It has been introduced to small areas in Western Europe, where it can frequently be seen cultivated in gardens and parks. It prefers good soil that is slightly acidic. Often simply called red oak, northern red oak is so named to distinguish it from southern red oak, also known as the Spanish oak. It is also the state tree of New Jersey and the provincial tree of Prince Edward Island.

<i>Acer rubrum</i> species of deciduous tree

Acer rubrum, the red maple, also known as swamp, water or soft maple, is one of the most common and widespread deciduous trees of eastern and central North America. The U.S. Forest service recognizes it as the most abundant native tree in eastern North America. The red maple ranges from southeastern Manitoba around the Lake of the Woods on the border with Ontario and Minnesota, east to Newfoundland, south to Florida, and southwest to eastern Texas. Many of its features, especially its leaves, are quite variable in form. At maturity, it often attains a height of around 30 m (100 ft). Its flowers, petioles, twigs and seeds are all red to varying degrees. Among these features, however, it is best known for its brilliant deep scarlet foliage in autumn.

In the rock garden proper, including trees and shrubs, were found Tradiscantia virginiana, Achillea lanulosa, Pinus mugho, Viburnum trilobum , Acer palmatum , Hieracium canadense , Ulmus pumila , Spirea vanhoutii, Malus coronaria , Asparagus filicina, Robinia pseudoacacia, Pteris spp., Potentilla recta , Ranunculus acris , Taxus cuspidata `Hicksii', Chelidonium majus and Muscari botrides.

By 1982 many plants had germinated or been grown from cuttings and different species of plants. Only about 90 different species made it to adulthood from the greenhouse and cold frames. Nearly half of these new plants were being grown for the conservatory and the flowerbeds around the house. They included species of Begonia , Fuchsia , Pilea , Euphorbia , Peperomia , Impatiens , Hosta and other indoor plants. The University Administration was not overly interested in returning the President’s Estate to its earlier glory and especially not the rock garden as very few guests went to see it during university functions. By the end of 1983 the following wild flowers were successfully introduced the into the gardens; Aguiligia brevistilla, Ranunculus abortius, Lychnis chalcedonica , Saxifraga aizoides , Siline cotripacta, Sedum anacampceros, S. kamtshaticum, S. kamtshaticumOreo marginatum, Malva sylvestris , M. verticillata, Potentilla tridentata , Potentilla intermedia, P. pentandra, Polemonium corveleum, Atriplex lentiformis , Agastace foenicleum, Campanula carpatica and Plantago lanceolata . The President’s Estate is now looked after directly from the U of T’s Grounds Department and no longer maintains its own Estate Gardener. [3]

Related Research Articles

<i>Robinia pseudoacacia</i> species of plant

Robinia pseudoacacia, commonly known in its native territory as black locust, is a medium-sized hardwood deciduous tree endemic to a few small areas of the United States, but it has been widely planted and naturalized elsewhere in temperate North America, Europe, Southern Africa and Asia and is considered an invasive species in some areas. Another common name is false acacia, a literal translation of the specific name It was introduced into Britain in 1636.

United States Botanic Garden botanical garden in Washington, DC

The United States Botanic Garden (USBG) is a botanic garden on the grounds of the United States Capitol in Washington, D.C., near Garfield Circle. The U.S. Botanic Garden is supervised by the Congress through the Architect of the Capitol, who is responsible for maintaining the grounds of the United States Capitol. The USBG is open every day of the year, including federal holidays. It is the oldest continually operating botanic garden in the United States.

Conservatory (greenhouse) greenhouse

A conservatory is a building or room having glass or tarpaulin roofing and walls used as a greenhouse or a sunroom. If in a residence, it would typically be attached to the house on only one side. Conservatories originated in the 16th century when wealthy landowners sought to cultivate citrus fruits such as lemons and oranges that began to appear on their dinner tables brought by traders from warmer regions of the Mediterranean. Municipal conservatories became popular in the early 19th century.

Highland Park (Rochester, New York)

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Nichols Arboretum Ann Arbor campus of the University of Michigan

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Peavy Arboretum

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Arboretum of the Barnes Foundation

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Morris Arboretum

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References

  1. ↑ "Park Drive Reservation Reach". Yellow Creek. Lost River Walks. Retrieved 2011-07-07.
  2. ↑ "Park Drive Reservation Reach". Yellow Creek. Lost River Walks. Retrieved 2011-07-07.
  3. ↑ University of Toronto Archives

Coordinates: 43°40′52″N79°22′31″W / 43.68111°N 79.37528°W / 43.68111; -79.37528

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