Dundurn Castle is a historic neoclassical mansion on York Boulevard in Hamilton, Ontario, Canada. The 18,000-square-foot (1,700 m2) house took three years and $175,000 to build, and was completed in 1835.[1] The forty room castle featured the latest conveniences of gas lighting and running water.[1] It is currently owned by the City of Hamilton, which purchased it in 1899 or 1900 for $50,000.[2][1] The City has spent nearly $3 million renovating the site to make it open to the public.[1] The rooms have been restored to the year 1855 when its owner Sir Allan Napier MacNab, 1st Baronet, was at the height of his career. Costumed interpreters guide visitors through the home, illustrating daily life from the 1850s. The Duchess of Cornwall, a descendant of Sir Allan MacNab, is the Royal Patron of Dundurn Castle.

Dundurn Castle, a Regency house, was completed in 1835 by architect Robert Charles Wetherell.[3] MacNab purchased the property from Richard Beasley, one of Hamilton's early settlers, when financial difficulties forced Beasley to sell lands at Burlington Heights (present day Dundurn Park), and MacNab built Dundurn Castle on the foundations of Beasley's brick home.[4] Once built, Dundurn Castle became famous all over the country for its grand entertainments. Sir John A. Macdonald and King Edward VII are among those who have been entertained there.[5]

Sir Allan MacNab, later Premier of the united Province of Canada between 1854 and 1856, hired architect Robert Wetherall and construction of this stately home was completed in 1835. The pillars and portico were added in 1855 as part of the preparations for the wedding of MacNab's daughter Sophia.[6]

After MacNab's death, the estate was used as an institution for deaf mutes, then was purchased in 1872 by Donald McInnes, who sold Dundurn to the City of Hamilton in 1899.[2] In the late 1960s, it was restored as a Centennial project. It is now designated as a National Historic Site of Canada.

A Strathspey for bagpipes was composed in honour of Dundurn Castle.[7]