Few houses in the city have such an interesting history. Located on Davenport Hill to the east of Casa Loma, Spadina was built in 1818 as a country house some distance from town. In her preface to the book's first edition, Edith Firth of the Metropolitan Toronto Library wrote, "Metropolitan Toronto has swept past the property, leaving it an anachronistic oasis in the heart of a changing city.... It remains, however, a rare survival of a former age, wearing its years with grace and dignity. Its story, and the story of those who lived there, is part of the history of Toronto."