Paletta Park Lakefront Mansion a Hidden Legacy

An older gentleman pushing a walker came towards me through the gates at Paletta Lakefront Park. This was the end of my informal self-guided tour and the beginning of his. “Hi sweetie” he said in a joyful tone. “Hi,” I responded, “beautiful day for an adventure isn’t it?”

As he walked past me towards Paletta Mansion I felt like he knew the secrets and history of this place. I wish I had followed him to ask all the questions that my curious mind devised. But I left him to enjoy the solitude of this special place and its generous gardens as I had just done.

Paletta Mansion is a 14 acre property on the shores of Lake Ontario in Burlington. The three story stone mansion completed in 1931 was the creative idea of Edythe MacKay, who also had a child size dollhouse built on the property for her daughter, Dorothy.

Edythe was the daughter of Cyrus A. Birge, a businessman, who’s company was amalgamated into Stelco, a giant in the steel business in Hamilton. He bought the acreage so he could look across the bay at his creation. At the time there was a farmhouse on the property and Edythe did not have the mansion built until after her father’s death in 1929.

It is said that Edythe travelled far and wide to secure furnishings for her beloved home, and she also enjoyed the natural spaces around the property. It was a place to ride horses and enjoy nature in its abundance at a time when automobiles and roadways were fewer and Frank Lloyd Wright’s Arts and Crafts movement in architecture meant that homes were built with their natural surroundings in mind.

Cross the metal bridges and you will be on serene wooded walking trails that are home to some very old black walnut trees and Carolinian forest. The foliage and trees grow this far north thanks to the microclimate created by Lake Ontario and the Niagara Escarpment. And southern birds are a common sight here in summer.

Paletta Mansion and the land has a long history. The land had been deeded to Laura Secord (yes, that Laura Secord) in the early 1800s and has had a succession of owners, including its current owner, the City of Burlington beginning in 1990. But it was Edythe MacKay’s vision of Paletta Mansion that gave this land its current day glory. Its windows and stone terraces look out over the lake beyond an expansive lawn, and the dormer bay windows may have been a place where Edythe sat to enjoy the view of Lake Ontario on cool wintery days.

After Edythe’s death, her daughter used it as a summer residence, but beyond that it came into the possession of the City of Burlington, and the mansion had once been slated for demolition as the cost of upkeep was too high. Old newspaper articles show this beauty unbelievably clad in boarded up windows.

Thankfully the Paletta family stepped in, donating millions towards its restoration, and with the help of the city and particularly the efforts of Alderman Bob (Robert Brechin), this exquisite place was saved and is open for all to enjoy.

The land is now a beautiful park with carefully manicured lawns, breathtaking gardens and natural walking trails, while Paletta Mansion is now an event venue that hosts beautiful weddings and other upscale private events.

As I wandered the grounds, I thought about Edythe MacKay. There is little known of the woman, but this place is her legacy and now speaks for her.

I’m always enamored by people of vision, and respect the incredible undertaking of bringing an idea to life. Paletta Park and mansion is Edythe’s hidden legacy and I suppose also part of Pat Paletta’s and Bob Brechin’s hidden legacy as well.

It made me consider the footprints we leave and the contributions we make. I created this video for you to enjoy and consider your legacy in this beautiful life. You’ll also see the gorgeous grounds and the breathtaking gardens here at Paletta Lakefront Park.

Leave a comment if you enjoyed this place as much as I did.