3/29/08

The Guild woods project?

I took Rocky for a walk today but this time i went behind our house and walked down this pathway which led me to something that caught my attention...a big sign that said "The Guild" hmm... never seen this before, then again i havent lived in this area for a long time. sooooo it was day light,people were out on the street so what's the worst that could happen?!
Rocky and I walk down this long path surrounded by trees with footsteps everywhere (meaning people were here before which was a relief) all of a sudden i felt like i was in a movie or something, it was soooooo beautiful!!!





we then reached the end of the path to find ourselves about 50 feet high overlooking water


then we walked back down a different way where i saw some nice architecture =D




i was happy to know that this was in my own backyard, this was nothing like Boston... can't wait to see what it looks like in the summer

HISTORY:
when i got home i researched the property to learn that::"The Guild Inn was built in 1914 on top of the Scarborough Bluffs,originally called Ranelagh Park, it was built as a summer home for Colonel Harold Bickford and his family. The home consisted of everything that could be associated with a large and prominent family such as servants quarters, a nursery, library, grand stairway, six or more bedrooms as well as three guest rooms, and a basement which contained a boiler room, storage room, fruits and vegetable room and a laundry room. In 1921 Ranelagh park was sold and became a boarding school for the China Mission Seminary until 1923. In 1923 Richard Veech Look purchased the boarding school to house his family as a summer home and called it Cliff Acres. He was moved to Quebec with his family in 1927 due to his position in his company.As he still owned Cliff Acres while he was away, the home sat empty from 1927-1932. Rosa and Spencer Clark bought the property in 1932 and turned it into the Guild Of All Arts. They opened their doors to house the gifted in arts, in exchange for their room and board the artist would provide their work to display. This continued until 1942. The WRENS( Women's Royal Canadian Naval Service)were housed at what became HMCS Bytown II. The Wrens worked in secrecy there having all the locks changed on their doors. They continued their operation there until 1943. In 1944 the government took over the Guild Inn turning it into a recuperative centre for returning war veterans with nervous disorders. "

1 comment:

OC The Great!!! said...

Thats so cool, I'm happy and excited for you.