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Victoria's Coal-Baron Castles: 1890 Craigdarroch Castle & Oceanfront Hatley Castle ('X-Men')

Inside the two Scottish Baronial castles of the Dunsmuir coal dynasty: 1890 Craigdarroch Castle and 1908 Hatley Castle.

Unlike eastern Canadian cities, Victoria boasts two authentic, Gilded Age Scottish Baronial stone castles—both built within twenty years of each other by the exact same family! In 1869, Scottish immigrant Robert Dunsmuir discovered the richest coal seam on Vancouver Island at Wellington (near Nanaimo), becoming the wealthiest industrialist in British Columbia. He built hilltop Craigdarroch Castle for his wife Joan, and twenty years later his son James Dunsmuir (who served as both Premier and Lieutenant-Governor of BC) built an even larger oceanfront estate at Hatley Castle!

Carved Golden Oak grand staircase and original Tiffany-era stained-glass windows inside 1890 Craigdarroch Castle, Victoria
Over 2,100 panels of prefabricated Golden Oak woodwork were shipped by rail from Chicago in 1889 to panel the four storeys of Craigdarroch Castle.

1. Craigdarroch Castle (Built 1887–1890 — 1050 Joan Crescent, Rockland)

Perched on the crest of Rockland Hill just 2 kilometres east of the Inner Harbour (a scenic 25-minute walk up Fort Street or 8 minutes on BC Transit Bus #11, #14 or #15), 2,300-square-metre (25,000 sq ft) Craigdarroch Castle is a National Historic Site of Canada:

  • 87 Oak Stairs, 39 Rooms & 32 Stained-Glass Windows: tragically, Robert Dunsmuir died in April 1889 before the castle was finished, leaving the entire fortune to his widow Joan. Your self-guided tour leads up 87 hand-carved Golden Oak steps across four floors—past 17 ornate fireplaces, Victorian billiard and smoking rooms, a Victorian grand piano, and 32 original, museum-grade American stained-glass windows—all the way up to the 5th-floor Castle Tower for a panoramic view over Victoria, the Juan de Fuca Strait and the snow-capped Olympic Mountains!
The 60-metre stone battlements of 1908 Hatley Castle overlooking manicured Italian and Japanese Gardens in Colwood, Victoria
Designed by architect Samuel Maclure in 1908 on a 650-acre lagoon estate, Hatley Castle is famous worldwide as Professor Xavier's School for Gifted Youngsters in the X-Men films and Deadpool!

2. Hatley Castle & Gardens (Built 1908 — 20 Mins West in Colwood, Gardens Free!)

Not to be outdone by his mother's castle, son James Dunsmuir purchased 650 acres overlooking Esquimalt Lagoon and the ocean 20 minutes west of downtown (at 2005 Sooke Road, now the campus of Royal Roads University) and hired architect Samuel Maclure to build the 40-room Tudor-Revival fortress of Hatley Castle in 1908:

  • Famous as the 'X-Men Mansion' & Free Gardens: film fans will recognize the 60-metre stone facade immediately—Hatley Castle has starred as Professor Xavier's School for Gifted Youngsters in the X-Men and Deadpool movies, Luthor Mansion in Smallville, and Auradon Prep in Disney's Descendants! Best of all, walking through its spectacular Italian, Rose and Japanese Gardens (where wild peacocks roam beside a coastal old-growth Douglas fir forest and ocean lagoon!) is completely free!
Stone pergola and reflecting pond in the historic gardens of Hatley Park National Historic Site overlooking Esquimalt Lagoon
Behind Hatley Castle, terraced gardens step down toward Esquimalt Lagoon, Coburg Peninsula and views of the Olympic Mountains.

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