Senator George Taylor Fulford made millions of dollars from “Pink Pills for Pale People” — a patent medicine he manufactured in Brockville and sold around the world. Fulford recognized the commercial potential of the readership developed by mass-circulation newspapers and built his business on saturation print advertising. He constructed Fulford Place, an 1,860-square-metre (20,000-square-foot) Edwardian mansion between 1899 and 1901. The original grounds were designed by Frederick Olmsted of the Olmsted landscaping firm, which also designed Central Park in New York City. Restoration of the Fulford gardens was one of the Ontario Heritage Trust’s most exciting heritage garden conservancy projects. The restoration included the Italianate-style gardens, an elaborate triton fountain, statuary, stone walls and gates. Through generous donations from a number of individuals and organizations, the Trust restored the Italianate Garden, a key component of this nationally significant historical landscape.
Original tapestries, paintings, statuary and ceramics collected on the Fulfords’ world travels are on display throughout the period rooms and are also featured in special exhibits. The grand style of the beaux art house was ideally suited to the Fulfords, as they entertained Canadian prime ministers, British princes and the neighbouring well-to-do whose grand “cottages” lined the St. Lawrence River.
In 1987, George T. Fulford, the son of Senator Fulford, donated Fulford Place to the Ontario Heritage Trust. The contents of the mansion were later donated by his widow Jutta Fulford and his son George Fulford III. The Trust undertook an extensive restoration of the site with funds from the provincial government and opened it to the public as a house museum in June 1993. Seasonal exhibits in the gallery feature exotic works collected by the Fulfords on their world travels.
The Friends of Fulford Place Association, an incorporated volunteer body, assists the Trust in the operation and public interpretation of this National Historic Site. The Friends lead tours of the house and grounds, conduct research, create interpretive displays and raise funds for restoration and interpretive projects. The Trust’s work at Fulford Place provides an example of how partnerships between public heritage organizations and local groups can work to conserve and promote a community’s heritage.
