Willistead Manor Summer Tours Free to Celebrate New Coach House Historical Exhibition and Hiram Walker 206th Birthday

The City of Windsor invites you to tour historic Willistead Manor, along with the new Coach House Historical Exhibition on Wednesdays and Sundays in July. Tours will be offered free of charge this summer only in celebration of the new exhibition and the 206^th Birthday of Hiram Walker.

Public Summer Tours of Willistead Manor and the Coach House Historical Exhibition are being offered:

·       Wednesdays, July 6, 13, 20 and 27, 2022 from 6 to 8 p.m.; and

·       Sundays, July 10, 17, 24 and 31, 2022 from 1 to 4 p.m.

In lieu of the regular tour fee, guests are asked to donate onsite to the Friends of Willistead. A minimum donation of $2.00 per person is recommended. The Friends of Willistead are a volunteer group that supports events and activities at Willistead Manor, including the annual holiday tours, all year long. With events paused during the pandemic, this is an opportunity for the Friends to receive donations from the community in support of their important work at the manor.

Willistead Manor was built in 1906 for Edward Chandler Walker, the second son of Hiram Walker, founder of the world-renowned distillery, and Edward’s wife, Mary Elizabeth Griffin Walker. Albert Kahn, a noted Detroit architect of the day, built three buildings on the 15-acre estate: the Manor House, the Coach House, and the Gatehouse. Designed in the 16^th Century Tudor-Jacobean style of an English manor house, the main building was started in 1904. No expense was spared in the materials or labour. Edward and his wife Mary moved into Willistead Manor in 1906. In naming the estate, Edward commemorated his older brother Willis, who had died some years before. Edward lived in Willistead Manor until his death in 1915. He was buried in St. Mary’s churchyard across the street from his property on Niagara Street. Five years later, the Walker Family deeded Willistead Manor to the town of Walkerville. Upon amalgamation of the Border Cities in 1935, the City of Windsor inherited this magnificent gift from the past. Over the years, the Manor has been a public library and an art gallery. Today, the 36-room mansion is a perfect location for weddings, receptions, theatre performances, poetry readings, and other special events.

On July 2, 2022, the City celebrated Hiram Walker’s 206^th birthday with the unveiling of a commemorative statue in the Hiram Walker Parkette at the corner of Riverside Drive East at Devonshire Road, and the grand opening of a new historical exhibition at the Willistead Manor Coach House. Hiram Walker’s great-great granddaughter Pam Morse, and her husband Tony were in attendance at the weekend’s events. In the new exhibition, guests are able to learn about the history of Hiram Walker, the formation of Walkerville, Edward and Mary Walker, Willistead Manor, and much more in this new and permanent Coach House exhibition designed by HCA Mindbox, and supported by The Merinoff Foundation, the Walker descendants, Willistead Manor Inc., the Friends of Willistead, and the City of Windsor.  

The 2022 Willistead Manor Summer Tours are brought to you in partnership between the City of Windsor and the Friends of Willistead.

Quotes:

“We are always proud to showcase Willistead Manor, and certainly there is renewed interest with the recent unveiling of the new Coach House Historical Exhibition. I am amazed at the transformation in the space, with the Coach House becoming the latest satellite location in the Museum Windsor family of sites where our stories are shared. Today’s Windsor would be a shadow of itself without the indelible contributions of Hiram Walker, Edward and Mary Walker, and the Walker Family. Edward and Mary built Willistead Manor, which became one of the greatest gifts our community has ever received. Now, guests touring the site can begin at the Coach House, learning about the man who built the community of Walkerville, the son of Hiram who built the manor, and the woman who worked on it right alongside him. We are grateful to the Merinoff Foundation who funded the exhibition, to the descendants of Hiram Walker, Willistead Manor Inc., and the Friends of Willistead. I invite everyone to visit to learn the story of the man, the family, and the home that shaped a community.”
– Mayor Drew Dilkens

For more information, please contact Willistead Manor at 519-253-2365, visit www.CityWindsor.ca, or call 311.

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