Willistead Manor is a historic house located in the former town of Walkerville, Ontario, Canada, now part of Windsor. Designed by Albert Kahn for Edward Chandler Walker and built between 1904 and 1906, the manor was ceded to the community in 1921, a few years after Walker's death. Having served as the Walkerville Town Hall, Art Gallery of Windsor and as a public library branch, it is currently used as a banquet hall. The manor is designed in the Tudor Revival style, and the grounds also include a coach house and a gate house of similar design.
Description and location
Willistead Manor is located at 1899 Niagara Street in the Walkerville district of Windsor, Ontario. The property sits atop a plot of parkland and consists of the manor proper, a coach house, and a gate house. The property is surrounded by an iron-and-limestone fence and also features a fountain commissioned to celebrate the Diamond Jubilee of Queen Victoria in 1897. It was built between 1904 and 1906, using grey limestone quarried outside of Amherstburg and worked by Scottish stonemasons.
The building was commissioned by Edward Chandler Walker, the second son of Hiram Walker. Contrary to popular belief, Hiram Walker never lived in the home. Edward and his wife never had any children. After Edward died in 1915, his wife Mary moved out of the house and she eventually moved back to the United States, deeding the house and grounds to the town of Walkerville in 1921.
When Walkerville was amalgamated with Windsor in 1935, it obtained ownership of Willistead.