Casa Loma Trivia Quiz

Answer: Toronto

This past Canada day, my family and I went to visit the castle for the first time, even though we live a mere one hour drive from the site. It is incredible to be driving through Toronto, where you can see huge skyscrapers, apartment buildings and big city life, then to see a real castle, with turrets and all.

Answer: Sir Henry Pellatt

Sir Henry Pellatt was born in Kingston, Ontario on January 6, 1859. After attending Upper Canada college, he joined his father in his company, Pellatt and Pellatt (named this after Henry became a partner), a stock brokerage firm. He was heavily involved in the military, specifically with the Queens Own Rifles of Canada, and there is a museum with war memorabilia now in the castle, to honour his and many others work.

It was because of his involvement in the Queen's Own Rifles that he was knighted in 1905.

He was one of the first people to bring electricity to Toronto, with the Toronto Electric Light Company, founded in 1883. He also had a good deal of money after buying stock in the Canadian Pacific Railroad, and he was able to be the first to get the rights to build a hydro plant at Niagara Falls, Canada.

Answer: 9 years

After it was decided to make electricity public, Sir Henry lost a good deal of his regular income. He borrowed money from the bank to purchase land for development, but once WWI came around, nobody was buying, as everyone was putting their money into war bonds.

By the end of the war, Canada was in a slight depression, and Sir Henry's company could not pay back all his debts. These were totalling 1.7 million which is today about 20 million. In order to find the money he owed the bank, he had to liquidate his assets and sell the house, making his family's stay there only a short 9 years.

Answer: Girl Guides

Lady Pellatt was a strong supporter of Lord and Lady Baden Powells movement to develop groups for boys and girls to meet and learn outdoor skills. She became the first Commissioner of the Girl Guides of Canada, and, even though her sickness made it difficult for her to move and was confined to a wheelchair, she immensely enjoyed working with the young girls from around Toronto.

She was awarded for her efforts in 1919 when she was honoured with the Silver Fish, the highest award possible to get in Guiding.

There is a small area in the house dedicated to Girl Guides and Lady Pellatts work with the organization.

Answer: 3.5 million

After making his fortune with electricity, the Canadian Pacific railroad and the hydro plant, he had about 17 million dollars to his name, no small amount in 1911 (or now!). He wanted his castle to be perfect, and spared no expense to make it exactly what he and his wife wanted. For his wife, who was in a wheelchair, they even installed an elevator, a fairly costly venture.

Answer: House on the Hill

This title had been given to the land that he purchased to build the house on by its previous owner, and Sir. Henry decided to keep it.

Answer: A hotel

During the 1920s, William Sparling, an architect, came forward with the idea to make the building into a hotel. He was granted a long term lease during which time he finished up the Billiard Room and the Great Hall. He also had plans to spend a total of $2 million to create two new wings to house more guests, but his idea did not come to pass after a deal with a New York syndicate fell through, and the hotel that was there using the rooms already in place failed and was shut down.

After this, the castle became a dance hall and a local "hot spot" for young people to come and boogie down.

Answer: 1937

During the depression, Casa Loma sat there with no one tending to it, until 1933 when it was finally taken by the city to pay for $27,303.45 owed to them in taxes. Many ideas were thought up for what to make the city into, such as a high school or a home for the Dionne quintuplets, but in 1936 the Kiwanis Club of (then West Toronto) Casa Loma ( a " non-profit community service organization of dedicated men and women, working in partnership with the Community, supporting numerous worthy causes in Toronto and beyond".), stepped in and came up with the idea to turn the house into a tourist attraction, and in 1937 it was opened to the public.

Answer: E.J. Lennox

Along with aiding in the building and design of Casa Loma, E.J. Lennox was the architect for the Toronto City Hall, the Toronto Athletic Club and Maurice Cody Hall (originally St. Paul's Church).

Answer: The English Patient

During my visit to the castle, I went down to the basement, and I found that along the walls there were movie posters. At first I didn't see why there would be movies posters there, I thought the maybe the Kiwanis Club was a fan of movies. Then I saw above the posters captions saying that this movie had been filmed there, and listed the rooms that were used. X-men used many of the rooms (immediatly after I went home I watched it again, and I recognised many of the places in the movie including the Great Hall - that was so cool!), as did the movies Chicago, Extreme Measures, and Maximum Risk, and many others. Even if you haven't been to Casa Loma, you probably have seen it in one of these movies, and you can feel like you have. I hope you enjoyed this quiz and will go and see this beautiful castle again or for the first time soon.