Ste. Anne's Spa,
voted Canada's favourite spa 5 years in a row, by SpaFinder Magazine
Readers, is located in Grafton, Ontario, on a 500 acre estate. Just 90
minutes from Toronto, Ste. Anne's overlooks the Northumberland Hills,
read more...
THE DORSET MANOR SPA HISTORY - BUILT FOR LOVE
In the 1870's Emile Worts, daughter of renowned entrepreneur and distiller, James Worts, met a young lawyer from Port Hope, David Smart Jr., son of Port Hope's Post Master and local distiller. When Emile and David decided to marry and live in Port Hope, James built the mansion as a wedding present to his daughter and son in law. Since it was not allowed for women to own property at that point, the Worts had the mansion put in a family trust in case Emile outlived David; and she did.
When David passed away in 1894 Emile moved back to Toronto and the Worts family sold the mansion to Joseph Schwartz of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. In 1917, the Schwartz family changed their surname to "Black". For nearly 100 years the Black family used the mansion as the family's summer home. Joseph's brother used the same architect who designed the mansion to build his family summer home, across the road, now known as Homewood. Julia Black died in 1973 and the house was sold out of the Black family. At that point the estate became known as the Hillcrest, until May 2011 when the Ste. Anne's Family of Spas renamed it The Dorset Manor Spa.
