Eaton Hall (King City)

Eaton Hall
In the foreground is a mowed lawn to the left and a paved road to the right. The road branches to circle an island of grass containing a large tree and a small fountain. A three-storey grey stone building with a brown roof is prominent behind them. Its entrance is partially obscured by the tree, and a three-storey rotunda is clearly visible fronting the right side of the building.
General information
Type House
Architectural style French château
Location King City, Ontario, Canada
Construction started 1938
Completed 1939
Demolished n/a
Governing body Private
Technical details
Floor area 33,000 sq ft (3,100 m2)
Other information
Number of rooms 60

Eaton Hall is a large house in King City, Ontario, Canada, built in the Norman style for Lady Eaton in 1938-39 on a 700-acre (2.8 km²) parcel of land (partly the Ferguson farm). Lady Eaton and her husband, Sir John Craig Eaton acquired the land in 1920 and 1922 on recommendation from their friend Sir Henry Pellatt, who owned the nearby Mary Lake property.[1] Lady Eaton moved into Eaton Hall three years after selling her city mansion, Ardwold. The house is adjacent to a body of water named Lake Jonda (a combination of the first three letters of her son John David Eaton's first and middle names), and nestled within the temperate forests of King Township. Upon completion, it contained 72 rooms. It became a beloved gathering place for the Eaton Family, owners of the Eaton's department stores based in Toronto.

Design was started in 1932 by architects from the firm of Peter Allward and George Gouinlock. Construction was completed in 1939 and was supervised by John W. Bowser of the Aurora Building Company.[2]

Further uses

During WWII, the property was used as a convalescent hospital and rehabilitation centre for the Royal Canadian Navy.[1]

After Lady Eaton's death in 1970, the land was sold to Seneca College, which was then a provincially funded community college. It established its King Campus operations on that land in 1971, using Eaton Hall as its administrative facility. In 1977, a new facility was built for the expanding college, and Eaton Hall became a Management Development Centre until 1991, at which time it was converted to a public hotel and conference centre.[3]

Filming location

Many movies and television programs have been filmed at Eaton Hall, including Death Weekend, Mrs. Winterbourne,[4] and the final scene of the award winning film A History of Violence.

Notes

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 Township of King Heritage Committee (May 2006). "King Heritage Map Gallery" (PDF).
  2. ↑ "Chapter 1 & 2: Prehistory" (PDF). The Seneca Story. Retrieved 2010-02-01.
  3. ↑ Hanes, Tracy (1997-03-06). "Grandeur in the GTA Stately mansions reminder of our past glories". Toronto Star. Retrieved 2010-02-01.
  4. ↑ Filey, Mike (1997). "Going on Location at Eaton Hall". Toronto Sketches 5: The Way We Were. Dundurn Press. ISBN 978-1-55002-292-6.

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Eaton Hall (King City, Ontario).

Coordinates: 43°57′42″N 79°31′14″W / 43.96157°N 79.52060°W