The Massey Mansion

515 Jarvis Street

Toronto, Canada 

Circa 1920

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This home at 515 Jarvis Street, 

commonly known as Euclid Hall, now houses The Keg Mansion Restaurant.  

Circa 2021

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Euclid Hall is an example of the Gothic Revival style.  It has castle-like features, arched entranceways, windows and a solariium.  The interior features woodwork, grand staircases, columns, fireplaces, crown molding and more. Euclid Hall also had a greenhouse.  Its front property, now a parking lot, was once a lavish garden enclosed by a fence.  Historical pictures suggest it had a porte-cochere which is a covered structure where carriages once dropped off guests and restaurant patrons, today.  

The home was constructed by Wiliam Young in 1868 for Arthur McMaster.  At the time, Jarvis Street was a much narrower street lined with trees and stunning mansions for Toronto's elite.  In 1880, the Massey's purchased the home and two years later had George Martel Miller expand it.  Lillian Massey named the property, Euclid Hall and lived on the grounds until her passing in 1915.  

Portrait of Lillian Massey

Courtesy of the University of Toronto Archives 

Lillian Massey left Euclid Hall to the University of Toronto's Victoria College when she passed.  It later became a radio station, an art gallery and eventually a restaurant.  For a time it was Julie's Restaurant before becoming The Keg Mansion in 1976.  The interior has been used as a film set for the movie, Moonstruck (1987) and Alfred Hitchcock Presents.*

*When the 1985 revival of the series moved production to Toronto.  Alfred Hitchcock Presents originally aired on CBS and NBC between 1955 and 1965.  It featured dramas, thrillers and mysteries.  By the time it premiered on October 2, 1955 Hitchcock had already been directing films for over three decades! 

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As the demographics of Jarvis Street changed, the wealthy moved out. Mansions were converted to offices.  The narrow tree-lined street was widened for traffic.  Jarvis Street is a mix of older buildings dating back to the 1800s.

Jarvis Street 1909

The Late Jared Jacobson

at the Console 

of the

Mighty Massey

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The name, Massey is forever linked, in history, to Chautauqua County and to the  Chautauqua Institution.  The Massey Memorial Pipe Organ is located on the grounds of Chautauqua Institution in the Amphitheatre.  The instrument was installed in 1907 and given to the Institution by Eliza A. Massey in memory of her husband, Hart Massey.