This property sits on the ecologically sensitive, geologically significant Scarborough Bluffs that display sediments left by glaciers over 70,000 years during the last phase of the Pleistocene epoch. Aboriginal peoples may have inhabited this site as early as 8,000 B.C. Scottish immigrant James McCowan settled this land for farming in 1833, calling it "Springbank" because of the springs running from the ancient shoreline of Lake Iroquois (predecessor of Lake Ontario) to the north. In 1939, Canadian artist Doris McCarthy purchased the easternmost part of Springbank, which her mother called "Fool's Paradise" because she considered it to be such an extravagant purchase. McCarthy's home and studio grew over the years and in 1998 she donated Fool's Paradise to the Ontario Heritage Foundation for heritage and artistic activities.

Location

At Fool's Paradise, 1 Meadowcliffe Drive, Toronto.

Themes

• Archaeology
• Arts and culture
• Buildings and structures
• Environment
• People
• Women's history