Our next destination was the Craigdarroch Castle.
I had always known about this castle in Victoria. I had seen it in so many postcards, but somehow, in all my visits to the island, I had never gone there. I guess it’s because it’s not exactly located in the downtown core. And though it’s only a short drive or a leisurely walk away (around half an hour), somehow, it had never been a part of our usual itinerary.
Once again, this visit was going to be a first for both my husband and me, next to the whale-watching tour. As it was too hot to walk, we took a local bus to and from the castle location.
Craigdarroch Castle was built by coal baron Robert Dunsmuir during the reign of Queen Victoria, thus, one can say that a visit there is the quintessential Victoria, BC experience. It has been meticulously restored and is now considered a National Historic Site.
The castle is not like the medieval castles one sees in Europe, but nevertheless, it is called a castle because of its imposing façade and luxurious interior. Built in the Scottish Baronial style, it serves as an example of a “bonanza castle,” the term used to refer to massive mansions built by entrepreneurs that became wealthy during the industrial age to show the world that “they have finally made it.”
Such was the case with Mr. Dunsmuir. He was a Scottish immigrant who made his fortune from Vancouver Island coal. Craigdarroch Castle, built on a hill overlooking Victoria, was his way of announcing that he was the richest and most important man in Western Canada. The castle’s name is Gaelic and means “a rocky oak place,” which is clearly reflected in its design – a beautiful gray BC granite exterior with San Francisco tiles, and an interior constructed mainly in heavy wood, with wood paneling along its walls and a pre-fabricated oak staircase imported from Chicago.
I love mansions from this era. I remember that as a young girl, I used to draw (or copy) pictures of Victorian homes. I am not sure why, but perhaps, it was the architecture and design details that enamoured me. I had since stopped drawing (not sure why either), but I still look up pictures of Victorian homes and even real estate listings, even though I have no plans to buy one (as most require extensive restoration, repair, and/or renovation, and are not exactly easy to maintain).
When we arrived, we were given maps and headsets. The site offers self-guided tours and visitors are given the freedom to choose the areas they want to explore first. We decided to start on the ground floor and make our way up to the fourth floor in sequence.
Craigdarroch Castle stretches over 2,000 square meters and houses 39 rooms. Visiting the castle was like a walk through time for me. It was quite easy to imagine being in the late 1890s and to pretend that we were paying the Dunsmuir family a social visit, as the rooms are furnished as if the original owners are still in residence. The home features the Dunsmuir family photographs, lavish period furniture, expensive decorative pieces, and collections of leather-bound books, giving visitors a glimpse of the privileged life in those times.
But the real attraction here are the castle’s stained-glass windows, all 47 of them, with 32 being the original. These art windows depict mostly floral themes (except for two figural panels, one in the Smoking Room, and the other in the Drawing Room) in flat and rippled clear glass and American opalescent glass. They are considered North America’s finest collection of Victorian residential stained and leaded glass windows.
However, the studio that produced them, most likely American, remains a mystery. There were no records of them, except for a vague 1890 newspaper account that mentioned that the orders for interior woodwork from A.H. Andrews & Co. of Chicago included “windows.” That was not very helpful, and not conclusive at all. Another mystery surrounding these stained-glass windows was the sudden disappearance of some of them sometime after the death of Mrs. Dunsmuir. Until now, no one knows who took them or what happened to them.
The intricately carved oak staircase took us to the upper floors where more exhibits are in place, making this a treasure trove of late 19th century artifacts, historic objects, paintings, and old photographs. The rooms are set-up as how they would have looked like in the 1890s. They look so authentic that while there, I almost expected a Dunsmuir family member to come out of a room to greet us at any moment, that is , if I ignored the signs and card descriptions. The fourth floor and the tower offer a panoramic view of Victoria and the Juan de Fuca Strait on one side, and the snow-capped Olympic Mountains beyond the border to the south.
Then, we checked out the back of the house where the servants’ quarters are. The rooms are not as grand as those of the main house, but they gave us an accurate portrayal of how the common folks lived and worked. And they must have worked so hard! I could not imagine the amount of effort involved in running a mansion like this – all the cleaning, dusting, cooking, and maintenance work. That is why, even if I could afford it, I would never buy a Victorian mansion. It is pretty to look at, but in our modern era, who has the time to clean the whole thing or the money to pay for all the house cleaners required to keep it spick-and-span?
At the back are well-manicured grounds. It is now a popular venue for wedding receptions, cocktail parties, and photography sessions. But I heard it costs a lot to rent this place.
The property is now owned and maintained by the Craigdarroch Castle Historical Museum Society, a private non-profit organization. Every year, they welcome as many as 150,000 visitors. But prior to this, the property had changed hands more than a few times.
When Mr. Dunsmuir died, sadly 17 months before the construction of this mansion was completed, his two sons took over the role of finishing the home, which was bequeathed to their mother. Upon Mrs. Dunsmuir’s death, the estate was sold to a land speculator who subdivided it into building lots and offered the mansion as a raffle prize to be won by one of the purchasers of the residential parcels. The winner mortgaged the home to finance his other ventures which failed and left him broke. The ownership was then passed on to his creditor, the Bank of Montreal. Later on, the property served as a military hospital, a college, a bunch of offices, and a conservatory, before it was repurposed into a historical museum in 1979.
And if you think its history is complicated, the story of the Dunsmuirs themselves trump this with their own family scandals.
Mr. Dunsmuir’s death brought strife to his family. Contrary to oral promises made to his two sons, he left his entire estate and all business holdings to his wife, a definite blow to the boys, who had worked in the family business all their lives. It took years of negotiation with their mother before she could give her sons the title to one of the companies, and to agree to their terms to purchase another.
When the eldest son died, a costly quarrel over his will again divided the family between Mrs. Dunsmuir and her eight daughters against the younger son. This triggered a lawsuit that reached the highest courts. This younger son, who by then was the Premier of BC, did not speak with his mother for years. Their family quarrels were brought to the attention of the media since the younger son was in the political limelight. When Mrs. Dunsmuir passed away, the son was not expected to attend the funeral, but he changed his mind at the last minute. During the service, it was said that he broke down and wept like a child.
In more recent times, the family mansion has had its share of the limelight as well. Several notable movies were filmed there – Little Women, Spooky House, and Cats and Dogs. It has also served as a stage to theatrical productions such as The Importance of Being Earnest, The Picture of Dorian Gray, and The Fall of the House of Usher.
Who says we don’t have castles in Canada?
(And on that note, you may have also seen another Victoria castle – The Hatley Castle, built by the younger Dunsmuir son. It was used as the Luthor Mansion in the TV show Smallville, and as "Xavier’s School for Gifted Youngsters" in two series of X-Men. However, my husband and I did not get the chance to visit the site, which is now part of a university and is a bit of a distance from downtown Victoria).
Before we left, we had our picture taken in front of the castle. My husband sent it to his mom with the title, “We bought a house!” (Hahaha, like she would believe it).
Photo Credits:
vicnews.com, Mikhal Klajban (Wikipedia), abbeymoore.com, MARELBU (Wikipedia), Brian B. (Yelp)
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