Government House (Ontario)

[3] When Simcoe moved the colonial capital to York (present-day Toronto) in 1793, he built a summer residence, Castle Frank, north of the settlement in 1794.

[4] Simcoe's successor and the colony's second Lieutenant Governor, Peter Hunter, initially continued to reside in his own home, Russell Abbey, located at the south-west corner of Princess and Front streets.

For many years after its purchase by the government, the residence was still known by the name of its former owner, with the correspondence of the Lieutenant Governor typically dated from "Elmsley House".

A three-storey red brick home, trimmed with Ohio cut stone, the building featured a tower, steeply sloped mansard roofs and dormer windows, with the main entrance and carriage porch facing Simcoe Street.

[3] Originally designed as an Italianate villa by Frederick William Cumberland for his family's use and completed in 1860, the house is located at 33 St. George Street.

[18] However, as that area was becoming too commercial, the province moved the site to a 14-acre (5.7 ha) parcel of secluded and undeveloped land in Toronto's Rosedale neighbourhood.

[20] After Hepburn was appointed premier, following the Liberal Party's victory in the 1937 provincial election, he ensured that Albert Edward Matthews would be the last lieutenant governor of Ontario to live in an official residence.

The contents of the mansion were auctioned off the following year, bringing in a profit of $18,000[20] ($367,200 in 2023 dollars[21]), and Ontario became the first province in Canada not to have a government house.

[20] Under Mayor Nathan Phillips in 1960, the City of Toronto bought the house for $100,000 ($1.01 million in 2023 dollars[21]) in order to destroy it and create municipal parkland.

[20] At the time, Chorley Park was considered dilapidated and outmoded and municipal funds were being spent demolishing heritage structures throughout the city to make room for modern buildings.