Dundurn Castle, Hamilton (must see)

Dundurn Castle carries the title of a “castle,” yet it is in fact a neoclassical mansion completed in 1835 for Sir Allan Napier MacNab. The name, drawn from Gaelic, means “Stronghold on the Hill,” reflecting MacNab’s wish to project stability and rank in a period when public image carried political weight.

In reality, his finances were often strained, and the grand house functioned partly as a 19th-century “folly,” an architectural statement meant to suggest aristocratic security at a time when his debts made that image uncertain. Designed by Robert Charles Wetherell in a Grecian style shaped by MacNab himself, the residence appears to be built of stone, though it is brick covered with scored and painted stucco.

Set on what was once an estate of nearly 1,000 acres, the mansion occupied land linked to earlier military reserves. Its columned portico and balanced façade follow classical principles associated with authority in colonial society. MacNab used the house to host political allies and military figures, strengthening his public image.

Inside, more than forty restored rooms present daily life in the 1850s. Formal areas upstairs contrast with the service spaces below, revealing the structure of a Victorian household. The basement kitchen and workrooms highlight the labour of the 10 to 15 servants who maintained the estate, with interpreters preparing food over an open hearth.

Outside, the half-acre kitchen garden is planted according to an 1854 plan. Heirloom vegetables and herbs grown there are still used in cooking demonstrations, linking the present-day museum directly to its mid-19th-century routines.