Fool's ParadiseDigital Doors Open Toronto

  • Digital Doors Open
  • Videos
  • Virtual tours
  • Collections and resources
  • Kid-friendly
  • 2024 theme: Adaptive reuse
  • Site has blue and gold provincial plaque
  • Site is protected by the Ontario Heritage Trust
Fool's Paradise

The former home of Canadian landscape painter Doris McCarthy (1910-2020), Fool’s Paradise is a charming cottage on the spectacular Scarborough Bluffs. McCarthy donated the property to the Ontario Heritage Trust so it could remain an inspirational space for future generations of artists. Today, the Doris McCarthy Artist-in-Residence program has welcomed over 40 artists to live and create by the Lake.

The former home of Canadian landscape painter Doris McCarthy (1910-2010) is a one-storey wood-frame cottage – on the spectacular Scarborough Bluffs (take an aerial tour of the Bluffs, and check out some of her artwork in the collections of the Wynick/Tuck Gallery and the Mountain Galleries). McCarthy donated this property to the Ontario Heritage Trust in 1998 to conserve its scenic, esthetic, natural and cultural values, with the wish that it would become an artist-in-residence centre and venue for heritage activities following her death. Explore the site through this virtual tour. Since the Doris McCarthy Artist-in-Residence Program launched in 2014, over 30 artists have completed residencies here. Meet one of the artists below.

Architecture

Year built: 1940
Building type:Private residence
Architect: Forest Tefler/Doris McCarthy
Architectural style:Modernism

Dates/hours open

May 28, 10:00am - May 29, 05:00pm

Saturday and Sunday: 10 a.m. to 5 p.m.