Castles of "Canada" WESLEY HALL vs WILLISTEAD MANOR

Wesley Hall, an impressive stone-clad brick structure built in 1894-95, occupies a prominent site at the front of the University of Winnipeg campus on the western edge of downtown Winnipeg. The City of Winnipeg designation applies to the building on its footprint and the following interior elements: main entrance hallway and stairwell, Convocation Hall and Manitoba College stained glass. Wesley Hall, the first building erected on what is now the University of Winnipeg campus, is one of Winnipeg's oldest educational facilities. The castle-like structure, built to house the classrooms, offices and dormitories of Wesley College, a theological and liberal arts institute affiliated with the Methodist Church and University of Manitoba, also is one of the province's best remaining examples of Richardsonian Romanesque architecture. Its design by George Browne Jr. and Samuel Frank Peters incorporates many features typical of the style, including simple yet powerful massing, a broad entrance arch, textured stonework and prominent towers. With modest additions, the facility remained the college's principal building until the mid-1900s when increased enrolment, new programs and conversion in status to an independent degree-granting university required substantial campus expansion. Throughout this evolution, Wesley Hall's location, scale and design have sustained it as a landmark and symbol of its campus, one that is highly visible within its formally structured site. The hall also retains much of its architectural integrity, although it has been subject over time to renovations and extensive exterior restoration and stone re-cladding.

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Willistead Manor is a historic house located in the former town of Walkerville, Ontario, now part of Windsor, Ontario. Willistead Manor was designed by renowned architect Albert Kahn in the 16th-century Tudor-Jacobean style of an English manor house. It was built in 1904-1906, and was commissioned by Edward Chandler Walker, the second son of Hiram Walker. It is named after the first son, Willis Walker, a lawyer in Detroit, MI, who died young. Contrary to popular belief, Hiram Walker never lived in the home. Edward and his wife never had any children. After Edward passed on in 1915, Mrs. Walker did not care to keep living in the big home alone, and she deeded the house and grounds to the town of Walkerville. When Walkerville was amalgamated with Windsor in 1935, it obtained ownership of Willistead. In the years after its use as a residence, Willistead served as the Walkerville Town Hall, Art Gallery of Windsor and as a public library branch. In the late 1970s early 1980s the City of Windsor, afraid of the repairs and upkeep on the mansion, wanted to demolish the structure. Preservationists stepped in and the home was saved. Today the 36-room mansion is used as a banquet hall, and the three-acre (12,000 m²) grounds are incorporated in a larger public park. The house can be rented for occasions such as weddings, corporate meeting and private parties. The house is also decorated for the Christmas holiday.

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