Architectural, Cultural sights in Canada
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Knaut-Rhuland House
Knaut-Rhuland House is considered the finest example of Georgian architecture in the province. This 1793 house has costumed guides who point out its features.
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Maison St-Gabriel
This magnificent farmhouse in Pointe St-Charles is one of the finest examples of traditional Québec architecture. The house was bought in 1668 by Marguerite Bourgeoys to house a religious order. Young women, called the Filles du Roy, who were sent from Paris to Montréal to find husbands also stayed here. The 17th-century roof of the two-story building is of particular interest for its intricate beam work, one of the few of its kind in North America. The museum has an excellent collection of artifacts going back to the 17th and 18th centuries, with unusual items including sinks made from black stone and a sophisticated water-disposal system. It all gives visitors a wonderf…
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Mt Stephen Club
The Mt Stephen Club, dating from 1880, was an exclusive businessmen’s club named for the first president of the Canadian Pacific Railway. The 15 rooms of this Renaissance-style mansion have been completely renovated by a private foundation and are rich with quality materials and skillful artistry, including a splendid mahogany staircase, marble mantelpieces and rather swanky furnishings. It’s still one of the swishest private clubs in town. The public can take it all in on weekends, during a seven-course Saturday-evening feast ($70) or a Sunday-morning brunch ($45); both feature live music. Free guided tours are included with Sunday brunch. Reservations and proper attire …
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Louis S St-Laurent Heritage House
Louis St-Laurent (1882-1973) was Canada's prime minister from 1948 to 1957. He spent most of his life in Québec City at this address and the house is 'alive' with his life story. Literally. Each room is hooked up to motion detectors - just walk in and prepare to have family photos start talking to you or phones ring with urgent messages for you to pass on to Mr Laurent. It's all brilliantly done; interactive history at its best.
Fluently bilingual due to his Irish mother and Québécois father, he was one of Canada's most distinguished leaders. Under his watch, Newfoundland joined Canada as its 10th province and important social benefits were established for all Canadians.…
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Terry Fox Memorial
The Terry Fox Memorial should be your first stop in town - both to visit the valuable information center, and to learn about one of Canada's great heroes. The memorial honors the young Terry Fox, a native of British Columbia, who lost his leg and eventually his life to cancer. Before passing on, he left a powerful legacy by attempting to walk across Canada with an artificial leg to raise money for cancer research.
On April 12, 1980, he started his walk in St John's, Newfoundland. On September 1, he arrived in Thunder Bay after traveling 5373km, but was forced to stop as his illness worsened. Today's memorial is erected close to where Terry ended his great 'Marathon of Hop…
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Point Ellis House and Gardens
The colonial elite used to hobnob at the beautiful 1860s-era mansion that is Point Ellis House and Gardens, which now houses one of Canada's finest collections of trinkety Victoriana. The house has 5000 artefacts, ranging from flowery teapots to intricate needlepoint artworks. Fascinating photos show how the upper-echelon O'Reilly family adapted to life on the fringes of the far-flung British Empire - apparently Mrs O'Reilly had a couple of affairs to salve her homesickness. Tea and fresh-baked scones are served in the fragrant gardens. If you have a monocle, this is the time to wear it.
Ask staff about the mansion's ghost stories, and save time for the fragrant gardens.
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The Rooms
Not many museums offer the chance to see a giant squid, hear a 40-part choral installation and peruse historical photos all under one roof. But that's The Rooms , the newly opened provincial museum, art gallery and archives. Frankly, the building is much more impressive to look at than look in, since its frequently changing exhibits are sparse. But whoa!
The views from this massive stone-and-glass complex, which lords over the city from a breath-sapping hilltop, are eye poppers; try the fourth-floor café for the best vistas.
There's free admission Wednesday evenings and the first Saturday each month.
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Lieu Historique de Sir George-Étienne-Cartier
The Sir George-Étienne Cartier National Historic Site consists of two historic houses owned by the Cartier family. Exhibitions in the first detail the life of Sir George-Étienne Cartier, one of the founders of the Canadian Confederation, and illustrate the changes that society saw in his lifetime. The other house is a faithful reconstruction of his home during the Victorian era. Staff in period costume run guided tours throughout the day and hold dramatic presentations on etiquette and a servant’s life. In season the program includes a Victorian Christmas.
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Osgoode Hall
Built in phases through the Victorian era, this august classic (named after Ontario's first Chief Justice) became a showcase for elite colonials, many of whom were lawyers. Inside a grand staircase rises from a gorgeous tiled atrium to the Ontario Court of Appeal and the Great Library, with miles of books, twisting stairways and 12m-high vaulted ceilings. The peculiar wrought-iron 'cow gates' out front were put up to keep out wandering bovines, a common problem in the 1860s. Free tours are conducted by law students.
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Gibson House
Scottish immigrant David Gibson, a successful surveyor and politician, built this refined Georgian-style house in 1851 after his return from an 11-year exile in the USA, the unfortunate result of his role in the Upper Canada Rebellion of 1837. Costumed workers run house tours between 11am and 3pm, as well as occasional weekend hearth cooking demonstrations. Gibson House is north of Sheppard Ave, next to a small park. If you're driving, limited parking is accessible via a small laneway off southbound Yonge St.
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Guild Inn
A 15-minute drive east of the Scarborough Bluffs is the quirky Guild Inn, an Arts & Crafts?style mansion dating from 1914 set among quiet lakefront parklands. An artists' colony formed here during the Depression; the garden contains a collection of sculptures, Ionic columns and gargoyles rescued from condemned city buildings during the '50s. Plans are afoot to build a $56 million hotel here, so don't be surprised if it's off limits. Call or check the website to avoid disappointment.
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Institut des Sourdes-Muettes
The little silver-plated cupola of the Deaf and Dumb Institute has reigned over the Plateau since 1900. An earlier building was built on clay, a problem typical to the area, and the soft ground gave way. The architects didn’t take any chances the second time around and the newer version sits on 1700 stakes and a concrete slab 60cm deep. The building still houses a private communications institute for the deaf, along with other offices.
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Thunderbird Park
On your way out from the Royal British Columbia Museum, visit Thunderbird Park, the museum's oft-photographed clutch of brightly painted totem poles, then duck into the adjacent pioneer buildings, including Helmcken House. One of BC's oldest structures, this tidy 1852 doctor's residence is lined with the minutiae of everyday family life. Refreshingly little is roped off and wandering guides provide the stories behind the displays.
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Campbell House
This formal Georgian mansion dating from 1822 was one of the city's first brick buildings, belonging to Chief Justice William Campbell. It's been beautifully refurbished in 19th-century style by the Advocates' Society, which uses the premises as its clubhouse. Tours are run by friendly costumed guides. In 1972 the whole house was shifted here from its original location on Adelaide St, 1.5km away – a slow six-hour voyage.
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Newman Wine Vaults
Dating from the 1780s, the dark, cool Newman Wine Vaults are where the Newman company aged its port until 1996 (when European Union regulations forced the process back to Portugal). Tour guides relay fun stories like how English noblemen, who wanted to be buried in their homeland, got shipped back after death in barrels of port, since the alcohol preserved their bodies. There are no tastings, but you can purchase bottles.
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Montgomery's Inn
Montgomery's Inn was built in 1832 by an Irish military captain of the same name, and its gracious stone symmetry is a fine example of Loyalist architecture, restored to its late-1840s heyday. It was a hotel for 25 years then a farm until the 1940s. Staff in period dress answer questions and serve afternoon tea. Contemporary and traditional art exhibits, cooking classes and wine-and-cheese tastings are often hosted here.
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Government House
Set amongst a stand of chestnut, maple and oak trees is the Palladian-style Government House. Built at the same time as the White House, but at four times the cost, the austere mansion (1831) with its prominent corner quoins and window surrounds is home to the province's lieutenant governor. The interior maintains original furnishings and is open for free tours (10:00 Wednesday and Thursday); you must book in advance.
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Chalet du Mont-Royal
Constructed in 1932, this grand old white villa, complete with bay windows, contains canvases that depict scenes of Canadian history. Big bands strut their stuff on the huge balcony in summer, reminiscent of the 1930s. Most people, however, flock here for the spectacular views of downtown from the Kondiaronk lookout nearby. It’s about a 20-minute walk from the park entrance on Ave de Pins.
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Province House
The Province House is one of the finest examples of 19th-century Georgian architecture in all of North America and was the first legislature in a British colony to win local self-government. After Charles Dickens visited the Nova Scotia legislature in 1842, he wrote 'it was like looking at Westminster through the wrong end of a telescope.' A guided tour will take up fifteen minutes of your time.
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Firehall No 10
Yorkville's historic 19th-century fire hall (1876) is still putting out fires. Beneath its impressive turret, a coat-of-arms relocated from the old town hall depicts the occupations of elected councilors: brewer, brick-maker, carpenter, blacksmith and butcher, united under a Canadian beaver. It's not open to the public, but the firemen don't mind if you stare at them from the street.
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Toronto Heliconian Club
Nudged between art galleries and salons on Hazelton Ave, the former Olivet Congregational Church (1875) is constructed in 'Carpenter Gothic' style – boards, battens and intricate trim with a carved rose window and wooden spire. The hall was taken over in 1923 by the Heliconian Club, an association for women in the arts that hosts exhibitions, book launches and arts functions.
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Roy Thomson Hall
Looking like an inverted ballerina's tutu, this concert hall's controversial design has been called neo-expressionist, deconstructionist, and a whole lot of other rude words we can't repeat here. Inside it's another story, the superb acoustics more than good enough for the Toronto Symphony Orchestra and touring acts like Ladysmith Black Mambazo and Ravi Shankar.
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Masonic Memorial Temple
This Grand Lodge of Québec is one of the most imposing monuments on Rue Sherbrooke, built in 1929 to honor the fallen in WWI. Huge classical columns frame the facade while two mysterious obelisks with dragons and globes guard the entrance. Free guided tours are offered on an irregular basis; check ahead for a worthwhile glimpse into the secretive world of Freemasonry.
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Seagram House
For almost seven decades this faux château served as headquarters for the world’s largest distilling company – a child of the Prohibition era. When Seagram was sold to France’s Vivendi in 2000 the building was donated to McGill University; its new moniker is Martlet House (named after the mythical birds on the university coat of arms).
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