Colborne Lodge
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Colborne Lodge is a historic home in Toronto's High Park. Built in 1837 by City Surveyor John George Howard and his wife Jemima, it was perched on the top of a hill above two of the city's ravines in what was then an area considerably to the west of the city. The house is a classic example of the Regency cottage style, and one of the first such buildings in the city. The small house tries to blend in with the landscape around it, in sharp contrast to the rigid formalism of Georgian architecture that was then the standard Toronto style. It was originally one storey, but Howard later expanded it by adding the upper level. The house was named after Sir John Colborne, Lieutenant-Governor of Upper Canada from 1828 to 1836 and first Canadian patron of Howard's architecture.
The cottage sat on 165 acres of land owned by Howard. His original hope was to subdivide his holdings and sell off small lots to create a new neighbourhood. At the time the area was still a considerable distance west of the city, and a difficult commute to town. Howard himself maintained a second home in the city.
Howard and his Wife Jemima had no children and thus deeded the park to city in 1873, in exchange for a permanent pension. He continued to live in his home until his death in 1890. John Howard and his wife are buried in The Howard Tomb, a stone monument which overlooks Grenadier Pond. The cairn, designed by Howard, is ringed by discarded fencing taken from St. Paul's Cathedral in London and was originally designed by the famous architect Christopher Wren. Additional land was purchased by the city in 1873 and 1930, thereby expanding the park to the current 399 acres. The home is now a museum run by the city. Next to the home are the Colborne Lodge Gardens, first created by the Howards.
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[edit] References
- Cruikshank, Tom. Old Toronto Houses. Toronto: Firefly Books, 2003.
- Denby William and William Kilbourn. Toronto Observed. Toronto: Oxford University Press, 1986.
