Langdon Hall Country House Hotel and Spa, located in Cambridge, Ontario has been voted Canada’s best hotel in Condé Nast’s Traveler Top 100 Best in the World, the Readers’ Choice award, the San Pellegrino World’s 100 Best Restaurant and the Wine Spectator Best of Award of Excellence. There’s a reason why Langdon Hall inspires such high regard. Actually, there are many. Luxurious accommodations, delicious dining and a rejuvenating spa experience factor into that good impression, of course. But, there’s one pervasive feature that adds to the overall comfortable feeling at the hotel – it’s fascinating history.

Eugene Langdon Wilks was 43 years old when he and his wife, Pauline Kingsmill, purchased a total of 105 acres of land in what is today Cambridge, Ontario. Though born and raised in New York, Eugene, like his father, wanted to spend at least part of the year living in British territory. So, once the land was purchased, the couple set about hiring an architect and designing the château in a Federal Revival style popular at the time.

The mansion remained under family ownership up until 1982 when descendant Catharine Wilks and her husband Garth Thomson decided to sell their family home. Luckily, current owners William Bennett and Mary Beaton saved Langdon Hall from falling into disrepair. With a background in architecture and a dream of running a country-style hotel, William and Mary set the old château on a course of renewal, and eventually opened to travelers in 1989.