Ravenscrag, Renaissance Revival mansion in Ville-Marie, Canada.

Ravenscrag is an Italianate villa of the William Spier & Son firm, designed by architect Victor Roy and built mainly between 1861 and 1863 on the southeast slope of Mount Royal, at the top of McTavish Street. Around 1865 John William Hopkins supervised added reception rooms and a greenhouse; the house then held 34 rooms, excluding servants' quarters and outbuildings. Its interiors were decorated by painter Giuseppe Guidicini and the teams of John McArthur and joiner George Roberts.

Hugh Allan bought the 10-acre lot on Mount Royal's southeast slope in 1853 for £2,250, and had the house built mainly between 1861 and 1863 to plans by Victor Roy of William Spier & Son. It served as the Allan family residence until 1940, when the family gave it to the Royal Victoria Hospital; since 1943 it has housed the Allan Memorial Institute of psychiatry.

The residence reflects Montreal's gilded era when wealthy families built grand homes as markers of their social standing. Inside, the spaces still reveal the owner's taste for European art and fine craftsmanship.

Ravenscrag stands at 835-1025 Pine Avenue West, at the top of McTavish Street on the southeast slope of Mount Royal. Two entrances open onto Pine Avenue West: the main gate and, further west, the former carriage entrance near Peel Street. The building houses the Allan Memorial Institute, an active psychiatry facility, so the grounds and interior are not freely open to visitors.

A large conservatory once stretched the length of a major interior space and was filled with fragrant flowers displayed during grand New Year celebrations. This luxurious plant house was a sign of wealth and showed how the owners used their home for major social gatherings.