Built on a former 32ha/80-acre hillside estate outside mid-19C Toronto, Spadina Museum is a historic house and garden that overlooks its remaining 2.5ha/6-acre grounds in a fashionable residential district. The 50-room brick mansion was home to businessman James Austin and his heirs, who adapted the structure to prevailing architectural styles and family size. In 1866 Austin acquired the estate, replacing the existing 1836 dwelling with a new Georgian-style house. His successful grocery store business had enabled him to become a major shareholder in, and eventually head of the Consumers' Gas Co. He later founded Dominion Bank, incorporated 1869, serving as its first president. Austin's son added the spacious billiard room in 1898 and, in 1907, the terraces and porte-cochere. The third floor, with its hipped roof and pedimented dormers, was built in 1912. Reflecting the grandeur of Victorian and Edwardian styles, the spacious drawing room with its matching striped seating, and the airy wicker-furnished palm room show the comforts the Austin family expected.