Oak Hall (Niagara Falls, Ontario)
| Established | 1982 |
|---|---|
| Location | 7400 Portage Road, Niagara Falls, Ontario, Canada |
| Type | Historic house museum and golf course in Canada |
| Website | Niagara Parks Commission: Oak Hall |
Oak Hall is a 37-room, three-story Tudor-style mansion built by mining tycoon Harry Oakes (1874-1943) located in Niagara Falls, Ontario, approximate 1/4 mile southwest of the Canadian Horseshoe Falls. In 1966, the estate grounds became a 9-hole golf course and since 1982, the mansion has housed the offices of the Niagara Parks Commission.
The Oak Hall grounds were originally part of the Clark Hill Islands property (see Dufferin Islands). The property was sold off and split in 1898 and went through several ownership changes until Walter Schoellkopf (1882-1955) bought the property in 1916. The Schoellkopf family was from across the Niagara River in Niagara Falls, New York and were pioneers of hydraulic power development in the region.
In 1924, Harry Oakes and his wife, Lady Eunice Oakes, bought the property from the Schoellkopfs. They hired the firm of Findlay and Foulis of Sault Ste. Marie, Ontario to design and construct the mansion known as Oak Hall, which was completed by 1928 at a cost of $500,000 (equivalent to $6,974,000 in 2016). Findlay and Foulis were also responsible for the Table Rock house in Niagara Falls, Ontario. During this time, Oakes became interested in golf and hired top golf course architect Stanley Thompson to build a nine-hole course for him on the estate. The course was completed in 1929 and was known as the "Sir Harry Oakes Private Course." The Oakes family lived there until 1935, when Oakes left Canada (due to what he believed was over-taxation of his gold mines) and moved to the Bahamas. After Oakes' death in the Bahamas in 1943, Lady Oakes deeded the mansion to the Canadian Government to be used as a convalescent hospital for the Royal Canadian Air Force. In 1952, when the government no longer needed the home, they deeded it back to the Oakes family and shortly thereafter, Sir Sidney Oakes, Sir Harry Oakes' son, moved in and lived there with his wife for several years before moving back to the Bahamas.
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