Government House (Ontario)
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[edit] First Grand Vice Regal Residence
In 1868 a grand vice regal residence was built in downtown Toronto, designed in the Second Empire style. It was torn down in 1912, when a new official residence was constructed in Rosedale.
[edit] Second Grand Vice Regal Residence
The second Government House in Ontario was an extraordinary building, constructed between 1911 and 1915 on 14 acres (57,000 m2) of secluded and undeveloped land in Rosedale, a neighbourhood of Toronto. Chorley Park was the new residence of the Lieutenant Governor of Ontario and designed by architect Francis R. Heakes (1858 - 1930) in a French Renaissance romantic style reminiscent of French châteaux in the Loire Valley. It was one of the most expensive residences ever constructed in Canada at the time, and outshone even Rideau Hall in size and grandeur.
Sir John Strathearn Hendrie and his wife were the first vice-regal couple to live at Chorley Park.
During the Great Depression, Premier Mitchell Hepburn made it a key component of his election platform to close Chorley Park, promising that an opulent palace would not be maintained by the taxpayers of Ontario.
Winning the 1936 provincial election, Hepburn was as good as his word and ensured that Albert Edward Matthews would be the last Ontario Lieutenant Governor to live in an official residence. In 1937, after only 22 years and seven viceroys, Chorley Park was closed. The contents of the house were auctioned off in 1938 and Ontario became the first province in Canada not to have a Government House. The estate was bought by the federal government and served various functions including as a military hospital during World War II and residence for refugees of the 1956 Hungarian uprising.
Under mayor Nathan Phillips in 1960, the City of Toronto bought the house in order to destroy it and create municipal parkland. The building was demolished in 1961, the same year work began on the iconic new City Hall. At the time, Chorley Park was considered dilapidated and outmoded, and municipal dollars were being spent demolishing heritage structures throughout Toronto to make room for modern buildings. The grounds of the estate were added to the civic parks system and Ontario became the only province in Canada to not have a current or former Government House left standing.
The only trace of Government House left is the bridge to the forecourt, and some depressions in the earth that outline the rough footprint of its foundations. The once formal gardens have long gone fallow and today Chorley Park is a 'naturalized' park that requires little maintenance by the city.
Since then, Ontario's viceroy has had the use of a modest office at the Ontario Legislature, Queen's Park, and lives in his or her private home in Toronto.
