Craigdarroch Castle, a historic, Victorian-era Scottish Baronial mansion in Victoria, British Columbia, Canada,
Image details
Contributor:
Felix Choo / Alamy Stock PhotoImage ID:
2AEEDXNFile size:
40.5 MB (1.7 MB Compressed download)Releases:
Model - no | Property - noDo I need a release?Dimensions:
4608 x 3072 px | 39 x 26 cm | 15.4 x 10.2 inches | 300dpiDate taken:
11 November 2019Location:
Craigdarroch Castle, Rockland, Victoria, Vancouver Island, British Columbia, CanadaMore information:
Craigdarroch Castle in Victoria, British Columbia, Canada, is a historic, Victorian-era Scottish Baronial mansion. It was designated a National Historic Site of Canada due to its landmark status in Victoria. It was constructed in the late 1800s as a family residence for the wealthy coal baron Robert Dunsmuir and his wife Joan. Robert died in April 1889, 17 months before construction on the castle was completed. His sons Alexander and James took over the role of finishing the home after his death. James also commissioned the construction of Victoria's second "castle"; Hatley Castle located in Colwood, British Columbia. Upon the death of Robert Dunsmuir's widow, Joan, the Craigdarroch estate was sold to land speculator Griffith Hughes for $38, 000 who subdivided the estate into building lots. To stimulate sales during a slow real estate market, Griffiths announced that the home would be the subject of a raffle, to be won by one of the purchasers of the residential parcels carved from the estate. The winner, Solomon Cameron, mortgaged the home to finance other speculative ventures which failed, leaving him broke, and in 1919 ownership of the home passed to one of Cameron's creditors, the Bank of Montreal. The building later served as a military hospital, college, offices, and a conservatory, before it was re-purposed into a historical museum in 1979. The museum is currently owned by the Craigdarroch Castle Historical Museum Society, which is a private non-profit society, and is open to the public. The building is a tourist attraction, and receives 150, 000 visitors a year. *** Description sourced from Wikipedia (2019).