Ravenscrag, Montreal

Ravenscrag
Ravenscrag from Pine Avenue, 1901
Map
General information
TypeMansion
Architectural styleItalian Renaissance
LocationGolden Square Mile
Address1025 Pine Avenue West
Montreal, Quebec
Coordinates45°30′21″N 73°34′56″W / 45.5059°N 73.5821°W / 45.5059; -73.5821
Construction started1860
Completed1863
DestroyedInterior, 1943
ClientSir Hugh Allan
OwnerMcGill University (since 1940)
HeightTower of 75 feet
Dimensions
Other dimensionsFrontage of 300 feet
Technical details
Floor count5 floors, 72 rooms
Floor area4,968 m2
Design and construction
Architect(s)John W. Hopkins
Victor Roy
Main contractorWilliam Speirs

Ravenscrag is a former mansion that was built between 1860 and 1863 for Hugh Allan (later Sir Hugh Allan) in the Golden Square Mile of Montreal, Quebec. It stands at 1025 Pine Avenue West at the top of McTavish Street, on the slopes of Mount Royal. Upon its completion in 1863, the mansion of 72 rooms surpassed "in size and cost any dwelling-house in Canada," exceeding Dundurn Castle, built by Sir Allan MacNab in 1835.[1]

In 1940, Allan's second son, Sir Montagu Allan, donated the property to the Royal Victoria Hospital for use as a medical facility, when its famously sumptuous interior was completely stripped and gutted. Today, the building is known as the Allan Memorial Institute and is part of the McGill University Faculty of Medicine. Although reduced in size and lacking its former grandeur, Ravenscrag continues to dominate what remains of the Golden Square Mile today.

  1. ^ Dictionary of Canadian Biography (1881-1890), Volume XI