London's Woodholme Manor looks like a castle — and even has a few ghost stories
The west London mansion was used recently to shoot a horror film
The sprawling 19th-century manor near Medway Valley Heritage Forest boasts seven bedrooms and six bathrooms. Ivy weaves across the front exterior, adding charm to the stately architecture and character.
The neighbours and owners call it "the castle" and it may be haunted.
Owner Lara Descartes says 255 Delacourt Rd., otherwise known as Woodholme Manor, is a large poured concrete house near Gainsborough and Wonderland roads, and was the first of its kind built in Ontario.
"It's a special house," Descartes said of the house she bought with her wife, Josette Rosenzweig Espinal in April of 2022. "When you tour it you can see the amazing details and the sense of history, the beauty and the grandeur … the individuality that you don't always see in contemporary structures. It definitely appealed to our sense of fun and adventure."
The home's builder, Richard Shaw Wood, was an engineer and wanted to design the house after the castles he saw in Europe, said Descartes. The exact year it was built has been hard to pin down, explains Descartes, adding it was somewhere between the 1860s and 1880s.
Woodholme Manor is an excellent place to host parties but perhaps their fondest memory there is their wedding, said Descartes.
"We threw our bouquets from the balcony to the lawn below and we took wedding photos on the balcony," she said. "We had our wedding dance in the ballroom and that was fun and spacious and joyous."
One of her favourite things in the house is the giant fireplace, where you can cosy up in front of a fire during the cooler months.
"We've been told by the chimney cleaners that it's the largest they've ever seen in London."
Descartes' days of doing that are numbered as the house is up for sale for $3,645,000.
What about these so-called ghosts at Woodholme?
Since owning the house, Descartes has hosted production companies on the property for various film projects. One of them was Canadian filmmaker Jake Horowitz's new movie, A Thousand Cuts.
Horowitz told London Morning host Andrew Brown this week that while filming on the property a few years ago, the cast and crew saw something spooky.
"The crew was staying there and they kept saying, 'I think this place is haunted,'" said Horowitz.
One early morning while they were filming outside, he explained, a few of the crew members claimed they saw a reflection of a man with a hat on inside of the house.
"And there is nobody who looks like that or is doing that anywhere near us," said Horowitz. "As the director I said, 'OK I'm going to go inside and work with the actors, you guys deal with this ghost and let me know when it's done because that's not my department.'"
Descartes laughs when hearing the story.
"We didn't hear that story! How interesting," she said, adding she has ghost stories of her own.
"The prior owner mentioned that she would find little red objects around the house that she attributed to a benevolent ghost."
Another story involves a woman passing back and forth in a third-floor window when no one was home.
Despite the spooky encounter, Horowitz said he's grateful he found Woodholme to shoot his movie.
"Without that house and without London the movie never would have existed."
LISTEN | Hear why filming in Woodholme Manor was a spooky experience
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