This 2½-storey brick and Tyndall stone house on College Avenue in Winnipeg, measuring 23 feet by 40 feet, was designed and built in 1906 by the Western Cooperative Construction Company at a cost of about $6,000 for businessman Olivio John Biollo and his brothers Angelo Biollo and Santi Biollo. It featured a mansard roof, a grand wraparound porch with a second-storey balcony, intricate columns, and a distinctive lancet-style window on the top floor. Its playful tower on the northwest corner has led to the house being called “The Castle.”
In 1920, the house was purchased by Rabbi David Cantor and his family, who occupied the house until 1945.
Biollo House (no date)
Source: Biollo-Doyle family
Biollo House (1955) by John H. Warkentin
Source: John Warkentin Fonds, 2009-029/002, ASC16160, York University
Biollo House (May 2016)
Source: Kerrin Asmundson
Biollo House (May 2017)
Source: George Penner
Biollo House (November 2024)
Source: Jordan MakichukSite Coordinates (lat/long): N49.92172, W97.14036
denoted by symbol on the map above
See also:
Manitoba Business: Western Cooperative Construction Company
Memorable Manitobans: Olivo John Biollo (1883-1963)
Memorable Manitobans: David Cantor (1865-1953)
The Castle of College Avenue (2). The Biollos’ Fall by Christian Cassidy, West End Dumplings.
City of Winnipeg Building Permit 1903/1906, City of Winnipeg Archives.
Winnipeg fire insurance map, #317 January 1957, City of Winnipeg Archives.
“The Castle” - Rabbi David Cantor House, 494 College Avenue by Murray Peterson, Peterson Projects, February 2009.
This page was prepared by Jordan Makichuk, Kerrin Asmundson, George Penner, and Gordon Goldsborough.
Page revised: 3 September 2025
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