title: Cawthra House
text: # Cawthra House
  
  Cawthra House is the name for two homes owned by the Cawthra family.
  
  ## William Cawthra House
  
  The first was a mansion completed in 1853 for businessman William Cawthra by Joseph Sheard and William Irving. It is a now site of the Scotia Plaza office tower in Toronto.
  
  The Toronto building was one of several properties of the influential Cawthra family in Toronto, became a branch of Molsons Bank in 1885, then as Sterling Bank from 1908 and finally as home to Canada Life Assurance Company from 1926 until 1929.
  
  Attempts to preserve the house failed and by 1949 it was demolished to make way for the Bank of Nova Scotia Building, now part of Scotia Plaza.
  
  ## John Cawthra House
  
  The second building was built for John Cawthra (1789–1851) in 1830 as a home and retail store. It is still standing at 262 Main Street North in Newmarket, Ontario.
  
  