These murals are worth going to Oshawa for
How have I not heard of Parkwood Estate before
I took a GO train to Oshawa a couple of weeks ago to visit Parkwood Estate, probably the sole remaining historical estate of that size in Ontario (Spadina House looks positively modest next to it). How could its existence have escaped me for more than two decades of living in Ontario? I’ve probably seen it in a movie without knowing, though: the lobby on the way to the gift shop lists all the film shoots that took place on the property.
The estate was owned by the McLaughlin family until the 1970s, and the contents were inherited with the house, including plates and china. R.S. McLaughlin, the founder of General Motors of Canada, had the mansion built around 1917, during the Beaux-Arts craze, and the house shows it once you’re inside.
There are two original Joshua Reynolds paintings in the house (portraits of random notables of the era) and I’ve spotted a Corot which the guide did not comment on, maybe because it appears to be in a rough shape. There are various other items much older than the house, but nothing beats the murals that the family commissioned from Frederick Challener (1869-1959).
