The Cameron House, Music venue and cultural center in downtown Toronto, Canada
The Cameron House is a music venue on Queen Street West with two performance spaces, one in the front lounge and one in the back room. Each space holds about sixty people and the venue serves food and drinks to guests during performances.
The building was constructed in 1880; by 1881 Angus Cameron ran a dry goods store at #398, later a tailor shop, a furnishings shop and in 1895 the John Burns Hotel. It took the name Cameron House in 1896, opened as a working hotel in the early 1920s, and since October 1981 has been a community space for music, performance and visual art, launched by Paul Sannella, Anne Marie Ferraro and Herb Tookey.
The name comes from Angus Cameron, who moved into the building in 1881 and ran a dry goods store there, living above the shop. Since October 1981 the Cameron has operated as a community-based space for music, performance and visual art, launched by Paul Sannella, his sister Anne Marie Ferraro and Herb Tookey. It is now run by Ferraro's children, Annalise and Tally.
The venue is easy to reach on foot and both spaces have room for standing or sitting during shows. It is wise to arrive early as the rooms can fill up quickly depending on the performance.
The building was constructed in 1880 as two halves: number 396 stood finished while number 398 was still under construction, and the land to the west was an empty field. In 1881 Angus Cameron moved into 398 and opened a dry goods store, living above the shop while his mother lived nearby on the street that now carries the family name.
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