After a year of patiently watching & waiting I finally got to explore the Vacant Tudor Revival Mansion. Unfortunately it was being renovated but it still was pretty epic!
I first came across the mansion with Zenning with Zay & we made a few attempts at getting in. Each time though, it was always locked up tight. The Vacant Tudor Revival Mansion is located in a very wealthy neighbourhood & sits on two lots. It was originally owned by the a widowed philanthropist of an Toronto industrialist. The mansion, is said to be fit for a baron which makes sense since the industrialist was knighted before his death.
After a few more attempts I found myself in the neighbourhood with Freaktography! As we parked I noticed a wooden fence was now around the property. This was possibly a good sign for us as explorers but possibly bad for the house. We quickly made our way inside & were a little disappointed but still excited. Turns out the mansion was being renovated! It wasn't until I got home that I did some extensive research on the property.
Construction on the mansion was completed in 1921 & was the home for the wealthy industrialist window. There were so many fine details throughout but sadly most were now removed. The owners who purchased the mansion in 2018 wanted to tear in down & build two smaller McMansions on the grounds but locals wouldn't allow it. The mansion was given heritage status & studies done show that th desired new builds would not only cause threat to mature trees in neighbouring properties, it would also destroy architectural design elements the neighbourhood is known for.
The owners on the mansion were forced to keep things on the ground as is but were free to renovate the inside. It seems that we missed the best time to visit here by a few months but that was when it was locked up tight. The mansion sold for roughly $6,000,000 & after the permit process was complete, work began. I must say that despite not seeing it when it was completely vacant, I was happy to get in & explore it. Places like this are all too often destroyed to make way for boring new mansion & high density housing.
Of all the features of the mansion I wanted to see, the grand staircase was obviously the highest on the list. I was very happy to see that they planned on saving. But, I wish I could have seen it when the wood walls were still in place. A happy ending for a gorgeous mansion when so many are destroyed in the name of progress.
Beautiful I LOVE staircases like you!
In the video you were talking about how you can tell when houses are old yes in my grandmother’s house it had caught fire and then they redid the upstairs but I noticed that like in between those slacks there was plaster and it look like your hair like dog hair and I found out that back then they use that in some of the mixture I’m from St Louis Missouri in St Louis is known for our bricks and how we lay them so I was wondering if other states did the same but anyway once again just wanted to let you know this was a epic video and I appreciate it. I wish you again a Happy Thanksgiving and happy holidays to come stay safe and mask up.