The woman at the window and other unexplained events at Toronto heritage house

The shadowy figure of a woman in a Toronto heritage house window is just one of the unexplained phenomena visitors and staff report.

Built in 1837, Colborne Lodge is one of Toronto’s oldest homes, and some believe one of its original owners still watches over the property.

The home’s owners, John and Jemima Howard, emigrated from England in 1832. They purchased 165 rural acres stretching from Lakeshore Road up to Bloor Street in 1836 to run a sheep farm. John, an architect, designed and built Colborne Lodge.

The couple lived in the home until their deaths. After years of suffering, Jemima died of cancer in 1877. John died at Colborne Lodge in 1890. Their property later became High Park.

Their gravesite is located near the Lodge and is one of the stops on the Lantern Tours at Colborne Lodge: The Unexplained this month. The Lodge is now part of Toronto History Museums.

The one-hour tour presents some of the unexplained events and sights at the home and lets people decide for themselves what is really happening, said Bruce Beaton, acting coordinator of Colborne Lodge.

One of the more common stories at Colborne Lodge is a woman who appears in the window of the second story of the home. This window is in the room where Jemima died, Beaton told YourCityWithIN.

“From that window, she could have looked out as she was dying and seen the tomb that was being built for her,” Beaton added. “So one of the things we can’t explain about this, or we can’t really account for, is we don’t know if that’s macabre or if it’s comforting.”

Another more recent story happened at a summer camp, just before the pandemic, when children went into the house to learn about the history. One summer, a camper was restless and wanted to touch everything.

“They went upstairs to the second floor, into this particular bedroom, and this kid had a full-blown panic attack,” Beaton said.

The child started screaming and saying that there was a woman standing in the corner who was staring at him. He kept saying that she was staring at him and then said he couldn’t be in the room, Beaton added.  The camp leader led the group out of the room.

“And apparently, for the rest of the week, that kid was as good as gold,” Beaton said. “So, how do we explain this? Right, we can’t. We could perhaps say that there was some disapproval from a lingering spirit in that room for this kid being in there and wanting to touch everything. Maybe, we don’t know.”

Other stories involve a visitor feeling a hand on their lower back. The hand tries to undo the person’s ponytail. This happened on two completely separate occasions, Beaton said.

An older story is from a police officer who, accompanied by a canine unit, checked on the home as a regular watch in the 1950s. The security check was normal until they reached the bottom of the stairs that lead up to the second floor, and the dog steadfastly refused to go up the stairs, Beaton said.

“Dogs know things, perhaps,” he added.

Beaton said that on the tour they will discuss what spirits want. The traditional Hollywood story is that ghosts want revenge.

“So traditional ghost stories have a lot of dynamics about ghosts seeking revenge for an earthly wrong. That’s a story we’re all very familiar with, but maybe they just want to be in a place that they love. Maybe they just can’t leave a place that they enjoy,” he said.

Jemima may have had reason to be angry. John had a long-time mistress, Mary Williams, with whom he had three children. But Beaton said there no historical records describe how Jemima felt about the affair.

“What we do have, however, is a poem that John wrote when Jemima died, and in the poem, it’s clear to me that he loved her deeply,” Beaton said. “They were buried together, so it’s this Victorian appearance reality. What does everyone see and what’s really going on?”

The Howard grave in High Park.

Lantern Tours at Colborne Lodge: The Unexplained run from Oct. 27 to 30. Learn more about the tours and purchase tickets here.

Photos: City of Toronto