PAGE 8, WEDNESDAY, MAY 23,1979, WHITBY FREE PRESS Brian Winteor's Hisoiea w Whitby . PERRY'S CASTLE* Whitby, in the 19th century was a town of many large and beautiful homes. One of the grandest homes of all was the residence of John Ham Perry, Registrar of Deeds for the County of Ontario, and Mayor of the town. The home was so magnificent that it was, known as "Perry's Castle." John Ham Perry, the eldest son of Whitby's founder Peter Perry, built his "castle", in 1857 on the property now known as Kinsmen Park. The bouse stood where the swimming pool is presently located. Perry's Castle was built in the Italianate style of architecture, with a main portion of the two-storey mansion 52 by 68 feet, and a wing to the north, 50 by 20 feet for stables and servants' quarters. The roof was topped with a large observatory or belevedere which provided a clear view of Lake Ontario. The castle contained 22 rooms, exclusive of the basement, and was constructed of pressed buff brick. The main entrance from the south was through a magnificent doorway, 12 feet by seven. The doors in the front of the building were of black walnut, and some of the doors and windows in Perry's Castle won first prize at the Provincial Fair at Kingston in 1856. Visitors proceeded through a vestibule of richly stained glass, and a spacious hall, 44 by 10 feet and 14 feet high. To each side of the main hall were suites of dining rooms with drawing rooms, parlors and library, al] beautifully stuccoed and with richly ornamented cornices. At the top of the main staircase there was an immense stained glass window seventeen feet high. From the first landing double staircases ascended to a lofty corridor over the hall. The staircases and balustrades were richly carved and ornamented. On the second floor was a large billiard room. The windows were all of plate glass having double sashes for the winter, which in summer were taken out and venetian blinds substituted. All doors in the castle were hung on silver platedhinges. The western wing contained the servants' apartments, kitchen, store room,rand bath rooms. Hot and cold hard and soft water for the bath rooms was supplied through pipes throughout the building. There was also a complete gas lighting system in Perry's Castle, the first in Whitby. There were 40 gas light burners in the house, supplied by gas manufactured in a gas house on the property. The gas was manufactured from rosin oil and was as clean cheap and simple to produce as coal gas, and found to be'much cheaper than candle light. In the priricipal drawing and dining rooms there were marble fireplaces manufactured by Wolfenden and Company of Whitby. The total cost of the Perry's Castle was about 5,000 pounds, for English money was in use at this time. With. the pound worth about five dollars at that time, the cost would be equivalent to $25,000, a considerable sum, as most rich gentlemen's houses cost about $2,000 at that time. John Shier, a Whitby architect, designed the castle and built The Chairman of the Operation Committee, Councillor Gerry Emm informed the members of the Committee to be ready for a "walking tour" of the Town of Whitby today. He told them at a recent meeting of the Committee that the members of the Committee and Council "should be ready for another walking tour of areas of the Town." The mini-walking tour will include several items to be looked at. "The members will be looking into the ditch, culverts and sidewalk situations" in the Town. It will also~include "areas that need attention" said Council- lor Emm. One particular area that had been brought to the Committee members' attention is located on Green Street. The residents in that area find it difficult to walk along the street as the contractors for the developer who has been developing the former King property have broken up the town sidewalks. When a contractor or develope' damages town property it is up to the contractor amd developer to repair the damage and restore the sidewalks to good safe walking conditions. Councillor Emm said that the Committee would be "looking at the area on Green Street in front of the King property." During the discussion the members of the Operations Committee learned from the Town Staff that the devel- oper of the King property "has gone bankrupt." %0 m f r"l v v à -% it for Mr. Perry. The property was entered by a large circular drive which approached the front door of the castle. On festive occasions such as the visit of the Prince of Wales in 1860 and the proclamation of confederation in 1867, Perry's Castle was floodlit with gas lights at night. It was the showplace of the Town of Whitby, and was surpassed only by Sheriff Nelson G. Reynolds' "Trafalgar Castle" which was built in 1859, two years after Perry's Castle was completed. Trafalgar Castle is now the Ontario Ladies' College. The magnificent Perry's Castle with its wrought iron balconies, silver plated door hinges, stained glass windows and marble fireplaces, is no more. In 1876, financial reverses caused Mr. Perry to move to a more modest home on Centre Street behind All Saint's Anglican Church. The castle was abandoned, and stood empty until about the time of the First World War when a local builder Thomas Deverell demolished it and used the bricks to build five houses on Byron Street North. One of these houses has its basement built of Kingston limestone from the castle, and some of the castle doors are in that basement. Few other relics of Perry's Castle remain. One Whitby resident has a stone window sill in his garden, and some of the original furniture is in the Lynde House museum. Perry's Castle was one of the finest mansions of its day in Whitby, a fine example of what wealth and prestige could afford when Whitby was a rich and prosperous community in the 1850s. Committee takes a walking tour today