Built by the Boulton family between 1817 and 1820, the Grange is Toronto’s oldest remaining brick house. During the nineteenth century, the Grange was at the centre of the city’s social and political activity. Today, with its collection of furniture, artifacts, and art, it is an historic house museum and part of the Art Gallery of Ontario.

In her fascinating essay, award-winning Canadian historian Charlotte Gray brings to life the saga of the Grange, the home of the Boultons and of Goldwin Smith in the 19th century. Devoting as much attention to the formidable women who ran the household as to the men who were key figures in the development of the city, she offers a fascinating portrait of a place and a time. Complementing Gray’s essay are shorter essays and reproductions of works commissioned from artists Rebecca Belmore, Luis Jacob, Elizabeth LeMoine, Josiah McElheny, Elaine Reichek, and Christy Thompson that offer inventive responses to a complicated past.