Neo Classical Columns
by Barbara McMahon
Title
Neo Classical Columns
Artist
Barbara McMahon
Medium
Photograph - Photography
Description
These magnificent neoclassical columns were built in 1835. This is the main entrance to Dundurn Castle. Dundurn Castle is a historic neoclassical mansion on York Boulevard in Hamilton, Ontario, Canada. The 18,000-square-foot (1,700 m2) house took three years and $175,000.00 to build, and was completed in 1835. The seventy-two room castle featured the latest conveniences of gas lighting and running water.[1] It is currently owned by the City of Hamilton, which purchased it in 1900 for $50,000.[1] The City has spent nearly $3 million renovating the site to make 42 of the original 72 rooms open to the public. The rooms have been restored to the year 1855 when its owner Sir Allan Napier MacNab, 1st Baronet, was at the height of his career. Costumed interpreters guide visitors through the home, illustrating daily life from the 1850s. Currently, the Duchess of Cornwall, Camilla Parker-Bowles is the Royal Patron of Dundurn Castle.
Dundurn Castle, a Regency house, was completed in 1835 by architect Robert Charles Wetherell. MacNab purchased the property from Richard Beasley, one of Hamilton's early settlers, when financial difficulties forced Beasley to sell lands at Burlington Heights (present day Dundurn Park), and MacNab built Dundurn Castle on the foundations of Beasley's brick home. Once built, Dundurn Castle became famous all over the country for its grand entertainments. Sir John A. Macdonald and King Edward VII are among those who have been entertained there.
Sir Allan MacNab, later prime minister of the united Province of Canada between 1854 and 1856, hired architect Robert Wetherall and construction of this stately home was completed in 1835. It became the property of the City of Hamilton and, in the late 1960s, it was restored as a Centennial project. It is now designated as a National Historic Site of Canada.
A Strathspey for bagpipes was composed in honour of Dundurn Castle.
Uploaded
January 19th, 2013
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