Craigdarroch Castle facts for kids
Viewed from the south
|
|
| Lua error in Module:Location_map at line 420: attempt to index field 'wikibase' (a nil value). | |
| Established | 1890 (construction), 1979 (museum) |
|---|---|
| Location | 1050 Joan Crescent Victoria, British Columbia V8S 3L5 |
| Type | Historic house museum (Victorian era/Victorian architecture) |
| Visitors | 150,000 per year |
| Public transit access | Victoria Regional Transit System #11 and #14 bus |
| Official name: Craigdarroch National Historic Site of Canada | |
| Designated: | 1992 |
Craigdarroch Castle is a famous old mansion in Victoria, British Columbia, Canada. It looks like a castle from Scotland! This amazing building is so important that it's been named a National Historic Site of Canada.
Contents
Discovering Craigdarroch Castle's Past
This grand house was built in the late 1800s. It was meant to be the family home for Robert Dunsmuir, a very rich man who owned coal mines, and his wife, Joan. Sadly, Robert passed away in 1889, before the castle was even finished.
His sons, Alexander and James, made sure the building was completed. James Dunsmuir later built another famous "castle" in Victoria called Hatley Castle.
Who Lived in the Castle?
After Robert Dunsmuir's wife, Joan, died, the Craigdarroch estate was sold. It was bought by a land dealer named Griffith Hughes for $38,000. He divided the land into smaller pieces for building houses. To help sell these pieces, Hughes held a raffle. One lucky person who bought a piece of land would win the castle itself!
The winner was Solomon Cameron. He used the castle as a loan to try other business ideas. But his plans didn't work out, and he lost everything. In 1919, the Bank of Montreal took ownership of the castle.
A Building with Many Lives
Over the years, Craigdarroch Castle has been used for many different things:
- It was a hospital for soldiers from 1919 to 1921.
- Then, it became Victoria College from 1921 to 1946.
- After that, it was the office for the Victoria School Board from 1946 to 1968.
- From 1969 to 1979, it was home to the Victoria Conservatory of Music, a school for music.
- Finally, in 1979, it became the Craigdarroch Castle museum.
Today, the museum is run by a private group called the Craigdarroch Castle Historical Museum Society. It's open to everyone and is a popular place for tourists. About 150,000 people visit the castle every year! In 1992, the building was officially recognized as a National Historic Site of Canada.
Exploring the Castle's Design
Craigdarroch Castle was very expensive to build, costing around $500,000 back then. It used special materials like granite from British Columbia, tiles from San Francisco, and a beautiful oak staircase made in Chicago.
When it was first built, the castle sat on 28 acres (about 113,000 square meters) of fancy gardens. The castle itself has 39 rooms and is huge, covering over 25,000 square feet (about 2,300 square meters).
Inside Craigdarroch Castle
The four-story Craigdarroch Castle still has many fancy furnishings from the 1890s. It's especially famous for its beautiful stained-glass windows and detailed wooden carvings. Experts from the Institute for Stained Glass in Canada have even studied the amazing stained glass here.
The first architect who designed the castle, Warren Heywood Williams, also passed away before it was finished. His assistant, Arthur L. Smith, took over and completed the work in 1890.
Artwork and Treasures
The castle is filled with many wonderful examples of paintings, sculptures, and carvings. These artworks help show what life was like in the late 1800s.
See also
In Spanish: Castillo Craigdarroch para niños
Images for kids
-
Stained windows in Craigdarroch Castle, a noted feature of the building
-
A period exhibit in Craigdarroch's billiards room. The home has served as a historical museum since 1979.
