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<\/a>The McLaughlin\u2019s were a powerful family, that much is certain. Their history is filled with triumphs and sorrows, just like any other family. The same can be said of their home, Parkwood Estate.\nToday, Parkwood is used as a tourist attraction, as well as a place to film movies, such as X-men and Billy Madison.
\nBut before that, it was home to one of the most influential families in Oshawa\u2019s hsitory: the McLaughlin family.<\/p>\n
Robert Samuel McLaughlin, the patriarch, and his wife,<\/p>\n Adelaide, along with their five daughters, resided at the sprawling estate located near what are now Simcoe and Adelaide streets. \u201cHe and his brother George persuaded their father that the future of the firm lay in motor car production,\u201d the Parkwood website reads. The vehicle itself was made and designed in Canada, and it used an engine that was supplied by American company Buick.\u201cThe arrangement was brokered through an agreement with<\/p>\n Sam\u2019s friend William Durant, one of the original \u2018architects\u2019 of General Motors,\u201d reads the website.<\/p>\n It was then in 1915, that a similar arrangement was reached to begin production of Chevrolets. The move ensured the long-term success of the McLaughlin Motor Car Company, and guaranteed that production would remain in Oshawa for some time. George says this was a fact that was long ignored, as she says, \u201cFor years and years, Parkwood failed to chat about the 1937 GM strike and Sam\u2019s role in trying to bust the strike and union. That is not something that we should shrink away from.\u201d Despite the strike, \u201c[Sam\u2019s] efforts to keep organized labour out failed,\u201d says George. Before the strike, and before he joined his father\u2019s company, Sam met Adelaide Louise Mowbray in February 1898. Adelaide would attend teachers college in Ottawa, and after graduating, would go on to become a schoolteacher in Whitby. After only two dates, Sam and Adelaide were head-over-heels in love, and he asked her to marry him. They were married in 1898, and subsequently moved into their new home on King Street. Adelaide would leave her job as a schoolteacher behind. At the time of their marriage, Sam was still working for his father. However, 10 years later, Sam and George began the automobile business alongside their father. \u201cWomen like Adelaide were not satisfied to stay at home,\u201d reads the website. \u201cShe used her skills and societal influence in creating ways to benefit society through charitable work.\u201d Adelaide also became the first president of the hospital’s Ladies Auxiliary, and she would hold onto that position until her death in 1958. The website says that the profits from this would range anywhere from one dollar to $90. According to the Oshawa Museum, Adelaide was also a big supporter of several other organizations, such as the YWCA, the Ontario Historical Society, Women\u2019s Welfare League, Victorian Order of Nurses, and many others. However, Adelaide\u2019s life wasn\u2019t all about charity work, as she also adored golf. She was the president of the Canadian Women\u2019s Golf Association from 1937 to 1956. She was also a lifelong member of the Toronto Ladies Golf and Tennis Club, as well as the Seigniory Club in Quebec. One aspect of the world that Adelaide adored was flowers. Over her life, she studied them and grew to become an expert on them according. \u201cSeveral generations of locals revered and almost conferred sainthood onto Sam McLaughlin, forgetting that although he was generous and a remarkable figure, he was human, and both sides must be interpreted,\u201d says George. Sam and Adelaide\u2019s presence is still felt in Oshawa to this day. There are public schools named after them, as well as streets and museums. And GM is still a mainstay in the Oshawa community and economy. For those who do live in Oshawa, and especially for those who work in the GM plant on Stevenson Road, it\u2019s a monument to Robert Samuel McLaughlin, a man largely responsible for the auto industry\u2019s presence in the city. George says topics that are broached range anywhere from the McLaughlin\u2019s themselves to the construction materials that were used to build the estate. It was built shortly before Sam founded and became president of GM Canada. The design was inspired by early 20th century Beaux-Arts design. Two additions were added to the house in the 1930s and 1940s. An award-winning architect out of Toronto named John M. Lyle designed them, and they were two interior spaces that were inspired by Art Deco style. Part of the overall design was comfort, so while these may not have been common at the time, the McLaughlin\u2019s did not hold anything back in their design. The house itself contained a central clock network, in-house telephone system, a central vacuum system, remote controlled consoles for an outdoor lighting system, air conditioning, climate-controls for the art gallery, a humidification system, sophisticated heating and water systems, a walk-in fridge, and an elevator.<\/p>\n On top of all of those features, \u201cParkwood was designed for entertaining, with unusual recreational features, amenities and novelties to be enjoyed by the McLaughlin\u2019s and their many guests. These remarkable features continue to delight today, including a squash court, a grand conservatory, a rare Aeolian organ, a heated indoor swimming pool, a bowling alley and a games room,\u201d the website reads.<\/a>
\nAccording to the family’s official website, Sam, as he preferred to be called, only joined his father\u2019s business, alongside his older brother, George, after he had spent time outside of Oshawa.
\nDuring his time away, Sam gained experience in the \u201cmanufacture of vehicles, working in Watertown, Syracuse, and Binghamton, New York,\u201d according to the Parkwood website.
\nUpon his 21st birthday, Sam and his brother were made partners at McLaughlin Carriage Works, which had become the largest carriage company in the British Empire. Sam was then named the chief designer of all carriages and sleighs.
\nHowever, Sam\u2019s attention was pulled elsewhere, as the automobile had begun to make its rise in popularity.<\/p>\n
\nIn 1908, Sam sold his company and was named the president of the Canadian operation, and vice president of the parent corporation, with his brother, George, being named vice president of the Canadian operation.
\nIn their first attempt at making a unique and original motorcar of their own, the McLaughlin Motor Car Company failed due to the chief engineer on the project falling ill.
\nFortunately, their second attempt at making a unique vehicle that was all their own was a success, and McLaughlin-Buick began production in 1908.<\/p>\n<\/a>
\nAfter the deal with Buick reached its end, the thriving McLaughlin Motor Car Company suddenly had no way to replace them. It was then they decided to join forces with the brand new General Motors (GM) Company, and an Oshawa legend was created.<\/p>\n
\nSam would remain president until 1945 when he stepped down and was named chairman of the board, a position he held until the day he died in 1972.
\nHowever, Sam was a businessman, and people often forget that, according to Samantha George, the curator of the Parkwood Estate.
\nWhen GM workers went on strike in 1937, it was not taken kindly by the company.
\n\u201cSam was a business figure, and like many of his contemporaries, he didn\u2019t want unions in General Motors of Canada,” George recalls.<\/p>\n
\n\u201cIt\u2019s historic fact too, and offers insight into labour history as well as telling the richer story of Oshawa society at the time,\u201d she says.
\nThe 4,000 workers who participated in the strike were asking for an eight hour work-day, better wages, better working conditions, a seniority system, as well as recognition of their union, United Automobile Workers. This final demand was what caused the strike.<\/p>\n
\nGM\u2019s Canadian headquarters still remains in Oshawa to this day, and is, in fact, a unionized work place. It can be found at 1908 Colonel Sam Drive.<\/p>\n
\nThe two were married on the Mowbray family farm, and then honeymooned in New York.
\nAdelaide herself was born in 1875 in Kinsale, Ontario to Ralph Mowbray and Victoria Nutting.
\nAdelaide\u2019s mother was able to trace their lineage all the way back to the famed ship, the Mayflower.<\/p>\n
\nOne day while attending church, a chance meeting would change her life forever when Sam noticed her singing in the choir.
\nAccording to the Parkwood website, when asked about the day he met his wife, Sam said, \u201cThe only person I really saw in the church that day was a vision of beauty in the choir.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/a>
\nThey were quick to start a family with their first daughter, Eileen, being born in 1898.
\nEileen would then be followed by Mildred in 1900, Isabel in 1903, Hilda in 1905, and finally, Eleanor in 1908.<\/p>\n
\nHowever, Adelaide would not simply be outdone by her husband and let him do all of the work.<\/p>\n
\nWhile her husband was a businessman, Adelaide was a philanthropist.
\nThe Oshawa General Hospital was very important to her, as she helped in seeing the hospital opened in 1910, only two years after giving birth to their youngest child, Eleanor.<\/p>\n
\nShe would use a fundraising technique that was called the ‘Talent Dollar project’ according to the website.
\nWith this technique, she would take one dollar from the treasury, and she would give it to a member of the Ladies Auxiliary and tell them to \u201cmake it grow.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/a>
\nAdelaide was also very active in the Girl Guide Association, an organization that still exists to this day and helps young girls to feel empowered in a safe environment.
\nTogether, Sam and Adelaide donated the white Guide House to the association in 1948, which it owned until 2014.<\/p>\n
\nAdelaide also served as the honorary president of the Canadian Home and School and Parent-Teacher Federation.<\/p>\n
\nAdelaide also enjoyed beating her husband at billiards, and would spend her nights either doing needlepoint, or playing Scrabble and bridge.
\n\u201cShe was a fierce competitor who insisted on collecting any bets \u2013 no matter how small,\u201d reads the Parkwood website.<\/p>\n
\nDue to her love of flowers, some Parkwood rooms that were particularly important to her were the gardens and greenhouses on the property.
\nAdelaide was the hostess of the annual Chrysanthemum Tea at Parkwood Estate, an event that would attract approximately 800 people every year.
\nAdelaide died in 1958 at the age of 83, while Sam died when he was 100. Their five daughters, who have all since passed, survived them. Isabel was the last surviving child of the pair and she died in 2002 at the age of 99.<\/p>\n
\nFrom George\u2019s point of view, it must be remembered that, while Sam had a positive impact on Oshawa that is still felt to this day, he also made questionable choices, such as his decision to not support the workers during the GM strike in 1937.<\/p>\n
\nThe estate is a monument to Oshawa\u2019s history, both for good and for bad.
\nIt\u2019s where a man who often seems revered as a saint spent the latter half of his life. It\u2019s a monument to all that Oshawa has been through.
\nFor those who don\u2019t live in or around Oshawa, Parkwood is simply \u201cXavier\u2019s School for Gifted Youngsters” from the X-Men movie franchise.<\/p>\n<\/a>
\nDriving past Parkwood, you can catch a glimpse of the front yard. For a split second, you can see the house that feels like the centre of the city.
\nYou can catch a brief view of the well-kept front yard and the pillars in front of the door that harken back to ancient Rome and Greece.
\nFor a lot of people, this house is their dream. Almost everyone wants to live in a big mansion.
\nJust like Sam, Parkwood Estate is seen as saintly. There\u2019s something about the estate that causes the people of Oshawa to develop a longing look in their eyes.
\nHowever, while many Oshawa citizens will look at Parkwood Estate in reverence, they don\u2019t necessarily know the history of the building itself.
\nAccording to Samantha George, the curator of Parkwood Estate, the estate itself was completed in 1917, and the earliest blueprints are from 1914.
\nGeorge says false claims are one of the things that those at Parkwood are trying to combat.
\n\u201cOne of the things we combat about Parkwood is the local legends and the romanticization of the property by the public. On our social media forums we have an \u2018Ask Sam\u2019 column where the public can post questions about the estate and I answer them.\u201d<\/p>\n
\nParkwood Estate was built on top of what was once known as \u201cProspect Park.\u201d
\n\u201cParkwood was born of a collaboration between Sam McLaughlin, his wife Adelaide, and the best artists, architects and landscape designers of the time,\u201d reads the Parkwood website.<\/p>\n
\nBeaux-Arts architectural style is taught at Ecole des Beaux-Arts in Paris, and it draws upon the values of French neoclassism. Gothic and Renaissance influences can also be found in the style, and it uses modern materials, such as glass and iron.
\nIt was a style that was prominent in France at the end of the 19th century.<\/p>\n<\/a>\u201cThe mansion represents a rare residential design by architects [Frank] Darling and [John] Pearson, the team who are widely credited as an outstanding influence on Canadian institutional architecture,\u201d reads the website.
\nDarling and Pearson were responsible for notable buildings such as the Toronto General Hospital and the Royal Ontario Museum.
\nPearson himself designed the new Centre Block of Parliament in 1917.
\nThe style of the house itself is Classic Revival. It also has some Georgian features.<\/p>\n
\n\u201cWhile inspired by the historic villas, chateaux and stately homes of Europe, the McLaughlin\u2019s fashioned their estate to include the newest trends and innovations,\u201d reads the website. \u201cThe design of Parkwood\u2019s architecture, interior decorations and garden landscapes are all imbued with a 20th century style and a distinctly North American sensibility, including some outstanding examples of art moderne.\u201d<\/p>\n
\nOne place that the McLaughlin\u2019s would entertain their guests was the garden which has been featured in a number of feature length films, such as Billy Madison and 12 Monkeys.
\nWhile living at the estate, the McLaughlin\u2019s interest in horticulture and landscaping could be seen through the 11 greenhouses and staff of 24 gardeners.<\/p>\n