Campbell House Museum

My airbnb was about 2 blocks from the Campbell House Museum, which meant it was my first stop on my first morning in Toronto. I love house museums, so maybe I’m biased, but I definitely do not agree with the very low ratings others have given this attraction.
I arrived just after 9:30am on a Friday morning and was the only tourist there… the $ 6 fee was not in effect; rather, it was by donation. I gave them $ 10 since, as I said, I love and appreciate house museums. I got my own private tour (though this was established prior to my making any donation), and the young woman who took me around (not in period dress, thank goodness) was friendly, informative, and had a great sense of humor. I’d estimate that my tour lasted around ½ an hour.
Beautiful house, beautiful grounds, friendly staff. If you’re into house museums, don’t miss this one!

An exercise in futility occupying prime real estate, I guess that’s we can say about most things considered part of the history in the modern world but this one defies all logic. The tour is barely 15 minutes and doesn’t make one appreciate this place any better.
I guess the main attraction is a space that can be used for hosting events in the middle of financial district other than that I am not sure what purpose it serves to be here.
Sure there a trip down history on how people used to live without indoor plumbing and proper heating but that subject has been well covered in my ventures to other historic sites.

This is a big beautiful old house, three storeys and a basement. There are often guided tours of the rooms that are open, which are informative. However, what you get to see is the ground and first floor hallways, the kitchen, which is a faithful recreation of the original with a wonderful smell of woodsmoke from the occasionally used fire, a dining room and parlour on the ground floor, a single bedroom on the first floor and a room that was the library but is now used to display contemporary art. This place has double the number of rooms, another floor and probably several other staircases all of which are out of bounds and used for storage or some such. What is there is good, but it is so limited. It could be so much better if we could see, a scullery, the servants quarters, the rest of the rooms, stables, the library returned to it’s original form with some book cases and the rest of the house which is sadly now used for events. It’s lovely, but you just feel cheated seeing so little of it. Toronto has to its eternal shame lost so many of its old buildings at first from fires and latterly from redevelopment and it is great that this one has been saved, but so much more could be made of it.
And another thing… the period costumed guide needs some period shoes and a pocket watch instead of his modern wristwatch.

The Campbell House is one of the oldest houses in Toronto.
It’s Georgian architecture acts as a reminder of Toronto-​past, when all around the rest of the city Toronto-​present it rapidly putting up condos.
Interesting point:
1972 the last owners of the property (Hallmark Greeting Cards) Company wanted tear the house down to extend their parking lot. The Advocates Society, launched a campaign to save the building. The building was moved to its current location with help from TTC trucks.