Inside Professor X’s mansion: Where ‘X-Men’ came to life

It was a quiet Tuesday afternoon when I walked into the grounds of Parkwood Estate in Oshawa. Nothing about the scene suggested Hollywood. The sprawling lawns were calm, the gardens almost still. People moved about unhurriedly. In one corner, an elderly man sat alone with a book, reading as if the world around him did not to exist.

Then I looked at the house. Beyond the green stood a grand white mansion, its stately columns and imposing façade strangely familiar. I stopped for a moment, trying to place it. I had seen this somewhere before. And then it clicked.

Wasn’t this Professor Charles Xavier’s famous school? The sanctuary where young mutants with extraordinary powers came to live, learn and train?

It was. Standing there in the afternoon light was Parkwood Estate, a century-old mansion in Oshawa, Ontario—and one of the locations used to create the screen world of Xavier’s School for Gifted Youngsters in ‘X-Men’.

Suddenly, the tranquility around me felt almost surreal. This was a place connected to the cinematic universe of Patrick Stewart’s Professor X, Hugh Jackman’s Wolverine, Halle Berry’s Storm and Famke Janssen’s Jean Grey. The same estate that now appeared so peaceful had, through cinema, become part of a world of mutants and extraordinary powers.

And there was another surprise. Filming was taking place at Parkwood that very day.

Naturally, curiosity took over. What were they shooting? Who was here? Was there a famous actor behind the closed-off areas? A few people connected with the shoot were around, but no one would reveal the name of the production or who was involved. The secrecy only made the place more intriguing.

Later, I would learn that such discretion is very much part of how Parkwood works with the film and television industry.

For more than a century, Parkwood has carried one history in real life and many others on screen. In Bryan Singer’s ‘X-Men’, released in 2000, Parkwood was used for exterior scenes associated with Xavier’s School for Gifted Youngsters, where young mutants learned to understand and control their extraordinary abilities.

But ‘X-Men’ turned out to be only the beginning. To understand Parkwood’s extraordinary screen history, I spoke with Samantha George, curator of Parkwood National Historic Site. George has worked at Parkwood for 26 years and, alongside her curatorial responsibilities, serves as the liaison between the historic site and the film and television industry.

Her involvement can begin long before cameras arrive—from initial location scouting and creative discussions to agreements, approvals and production logistics, and finally on-set oversight during filming.

George told me that feature films now account for only part of Southern Ontario’s screen-production activity. Television, streaming series, limited series and episodic productions make up a significant share of the work.

Parkwood has become a sought-after location for productions looking for an authentic historic setting. Yet filmmakers sometimes see possibilities in the estate that surprise even its curator.

George recalled, with some amusement, that a ‘Star Trek’ production once transformed Parkwood into an alien world. A century-old Canadian estate becoming another planet—such is the transformative power of the screen.

As I stood looking at Parkwood, another house came to mind—thousands of kilometres away in Bangladesh. It took me back to Humayun Ahmed’s iconic television drama ‘Ayomoy’.

After the drama became popular, its shooting location acquired a fascination of its own. I remember travelling from Dhaka to Mymensingh to see Shashi Lodge. Part of the excitement was simply knowing: this was the house we had seen in ‘Ayomoy’.

Standing in Oshawa all these years later, I felt something remarkably similar. Parkwood and Shashi Lodge have different histories, architecture and cultural contexts. Yet film and television have the remarkable ability to turn a real building into something larger than bricks, stone and mortar. Once a house becomes part of a beloved story, audiences begin to carry it in their memories.

For film enthusiasts, ‘X-Men’ is only the beginning of Parkwood’s screen history.

Adam Sandler’s 1995 comedy ‘Billy Madison’ was filmed here. So was the Academy Award-winning musical ‘Chicago’. ‘Amelia’, the 2009 biographical film about pioneering aviator Amelia Earhart starring Hilary Swank, also used Parkwood as a filming location.

When I asked George about notable productions, she mentioned ‘Chicago’, ‘Amelia’, ‘Nightmare Alley’, ‘Ready or Not’ and ‘Priscilla’. What makes Parkwood particularly valuable to filmmakers, she explained, is its versatility. Different productions can transform different parts of the estate into entirely different periods, countries and fictional settings.

Parkwood’s production records include an extensive list of films, among them ‘The Tuxedo’, ‘Undercover Brother’, ‘Charlie Bartlett’ and ‘Hollywoodland’.

Its television and streaming credits are equally striking: ‘The Boys’, ‘The Umbrella Academy’, ‘The Handmaid’s Tale’, ‘Hannibal’, ‘Star Trek: Strange New Worlds’, ‘Murdoch Mysteries’, ‘Anne with an E’, ‘Mrs. America’, ‘The Expanse’, ‘Nikita’, ‘Shadowhunters’ and ‘Workin’ Moms’, among others.

Parkwood’s appeal lies partly in how much of its historic character has survived. Its architecture, period interiors and landscaped grounds allow filmmakers to move across eras without necessarily building an entire world from scratch.

And sometimes the requirements of a production produce unexpected consequences.

When I asked George about famous actors who had worked at Parkwood, she was careful. The estate enters into confidentiality agreements and non-disclosure agreements with productions. As a result, she cannot discuss every actor, crew member or behind-the-scenes detail.

But some stories can be told—and one involving Jacob Elordi offers a fascinating glimpse into what happens when Hollywood enters a century-old heritage property.

Sofia Coppola’s ‘Priscilla’ starred Elordi as Elvis Presley. For the production, Parkwood’s Dining Room was to be transformed into a sitting room in Germany.

There was a problem. Hanging in the room was an approximately four-foot Murano chandelier. Elordi, who is around 6 feet 5 inches tall, was part of the reason the chandelier became impractical for the production design.

But Parkwood could not simply take it down. George explained that the estate has a policy of not removing architectural features or fixtures merely for the convenience of a film production. Such an item can be removed if legitimate conservation work is also required.

A solution emerged that benefited both sides. The production paid for electricians to remove the chandelier and also covered the conservation work required while it was down. The arrangement, George said, delighted her “curatorial heart”.

The conservation project had not been in her budget that year. A film production needed the chandelier removed; a historic property needed the chandelier conserved. Both needs were met.

A similar situation arose more recently when another production filmed in Parkwood’s Drawing Room.

This time, George said, two Czech crystal chandeliers had to be removed partly because of actor Vince Vaughn’s height. Once again, the production’s requirements created an opportunity for conservation work that had not been in Parkwood’s 2026 budget.

It is a revealing example of an unusual relationship: film production may temporarily disrupt a museum, but under the right conditions it can also help preserve it.

Another example dates back to 2012, during the production of ‘Hemlock Grove’. Parkwood’s historic kitchen contained a 1934 ACME stove. The production wanted to use it on camera, but the stove needed electrical work.

According to George, the production rewired it and brought it up to Ontario’s electrical code so that it could safely be used during filming. When the cameras left, Parkwood was left with something valuable: a functioning historic stove.

The estate’s historic foodways group can now use the stove to research and interpret heritage recipes.

For George, stories like these can be more revealing than a simple list of celebrities who have walked through Parkwood’s doors. They show what actually happens behind the camera and how complicated it can be to turn a working museum and National Historic Site into a modern film set.

There is a fundamental tension between filmmaking and heritage conservation. Film crews need lights, equipment, people and freedom to transform spaces. Conservators are responsible for protecting fragile interiors, furniture, artworks, fixtures and environmental conditions.

George described the worlds of filmmaking and preservation as, in many respects, contrary to each other.

Powerful lights, equipment and large numbers of people can affect environmental conditions inside a historic property. Spikes in relative humidity, for example, can be a serious concern when the objects surrounding a film crew may be a century old.

Balancing those competing demands has become one of George’s areas of expertise.

After more than two decades of working with productions, she is increasingly contacted by other museums and heritage institutions seeking advice. Their questions range from how to approach a production and structure agreements to risk management, protecting historic fabric and understanding what film crews actually need from a location.

Her career has, almost inadvertently, placed her at the intersection of two very different professions: heritage preservation and filmmaking.

At Parkwood, however, the relationship can become a “win-win”, as the chandelier and stove stories demonstrate.

For a South Asian audience, I had another question for George: Had a Bollywood or other major South Asian production ever filmed at Parkwood?

Not quite—but it almost happened.

George said a Bollywood production had seriously scouted Parkwood in the early 2000s.The production showed considerable interest in the estate, she said, but the project ultimately did not work out. She did not identify the film or the people involved, so that tantalising chapter of Parkwood’s screen history remains incomplete.

Parkwood is not an isolated filming landmark. Step outside the estate and the relationship between Oshawa and the screen industry continues.

Located roughly 60 kilometres east of downtown Toronto, Oshawa benefits from being close to one of North America’s major film and television production centres while offering a very different range of locations.

The City of Oshawa actively coordinates film and television production. Filming activity must be reported to the city whether it takes place on public or private property, and the city currently does not charge a fee for a filming location permit. Other costs can apply when a production requires services such as road closures, municipal facilities or paid-duty officers.

The city’s list of productions filmed in Oshawa in recent years includes ‘The Testaments’, ‘The Way Home’, ‘Murdoch Mysteries’, ‘Cross’, ‘Matlock’, ‘The Handmaid’s Tale’, ‘The Boys’, ‘Jack Reacher’, ‘Station Eleven’, ‘Schitt’s Creek’, ‘Titans’, ‘The Umbrella Academy’ and ‘Designated Survivor’.

Oshawa also hosted filming connected to ‘It’, the screen adaptation of Stephen King’s horror novel.

The wider Durham Region offers filmmakers something particularly valuable: variety.

Within the same region, a production can find urban streets, historic estates, rural landscapes, industrial settings, small-town streetscapes and quarries.

Communities such as Orono, Uxbridge and Beaverton can double for small American towns. Parts of Oshawa can evoke industrial cities such as Detroit or Flint. Port Perry can suggest New England. For a manor or castle, productions can turn to Parkwood or Trafalgar Castle. Quarries can become other worlds, while military settings are available at the Ontario Regiment RCAC Museum in Oshawa.

The result is a region capable of changing identity repeatedly in front of a camera—much as Parkwood itself does.

At Parkwood, I met Oshawa resident and film enthusiast Ashik Ishtiaq Haque. For him, film shoots have become a familiar part of life in the area. “When a big production comes, it is not only the actors and directors,” he said. “A lot of people come with them. They need catering, vehicles and equipment. It creates many different kinds of work.”

He also described the sense of excitement that can surround a major shoot. Residents gather nearby, hoping to catch a glimpse of the production or, occasionally, a star.

The official numbers help explain why the industry matters economically.

In 2024 alone, Durham Region hosted 71 productions. Film and television production activity generated C$91.6 million in production value that year.

More than 600 local businesses support the sector through accommodation, catering, equipment rental, transportation and other services.

A production, therefore, is far more than actors and cameras. Hotel rooms are occupied, meals are prepared, vehicles are hired, equipment is rented and local workers find employment.

Major productions also bring familiar faces into otherwise ordinary local settings. Film Durham has, for example, documented ‘Reacher’ star Alan Ritchson filming Season 3 of the series at a quarry in Uxbridge in 2024.

Ashik pointed to another major factor: tax incentives. Ontario offers several refundable tax credits for eligible film and television productions. The Ontario Film and Television Tax Credit generally provides qualifying Ontario-based Canadian production companies with a refundable credit based on eligible Ontario labour expenditure.

The Ontario Production Services Tax Credit is available to eligible domestic and foreign-controlled corporations for qualifying production expenditure. Separate incentives are also available for eligible computer animation and visual-effects work.

But tax incentives tell only part of the story.

Toronto is one of North America’s major screen-production centres, and Durham lies immediately to its east. The region combines proximity to production infrastructure and skilled crews with a wide variety of locations and hundreds of local businesses capable of supporting a shoot.

Parkwood adds something particularly difficult to manufacture on a soundstage: authenticity.

Parkwood’s story, however, did not begin with cinema.

Its roots lie deep in the history of Canada’s automobile industry.

The estate was the family home of Robert Samuel “Sam” McLaughlin, one of the most important figures in the development of Canada’s automobile industry and the founding president of General Motors of Canada.

The McLaughlin family’s connection with vehicle manufacturing began a generation earlier. Sam’s father, Robert McLaughlin Sr., began making horse-drawn cutters and wagons in 1867. As demand grew, the business moved to Oshawa in 1876.

Sam McLaughlin and his brother George later moved into automobile manufacturing. The McLaughlin Motor Car Company was established in 1908, and McLaughlin-Buick automobiles began production that same year.

The McLaughlin name would become inseparable from the development of Canada’s motor industry.

The family acquired the former Prospect Park property in Oshawa in 1915, and Parkwood was built between 1915 and 1917 as the McLaughlin family residence.

Designed in the Beaux-Arts tradition by prominent architects Darling and Pearson, the mansion covers approximately 15,000 square feet and contains 55 rooms. It is surrounded by 11 acres of landscaped grounds and gardens.

Much of its original architecture, art, furniture and decorative features has survived.

Parkwood was designated a National Historic Site of Canada in 1989, recognising both its association with McLaughlin and the remarkable survival of its architecture, interiors and landscape.

That degree of preservation would later become one of the very qualities filmmakers valued most.

A house rooted in Canada’s automobile history gradually acquired a second identity—as a place where fictional worlds could be created.

For Parkwood, filmmaking is not its primary purpose. Its central responsibility is preservation. The estate still contains a remarkable collection associated directly with the McLaughlin family.

Maintaining the century-old mansion, its interiors, furnishings, gardens and other heritage assets requires specialist conservation work—and substantial resources.

Film production therefore presents both opportunity and challenge.

Crews may require access to rooms, gardens and architectural features. At times, areas of the estate—or even the entire property—may need to be closed to visitors while filming takes place.

But production activity also generates revenue that contributes to Parkwood’s conservation and preservation.

And sometimes, as George’s stories demonstrate, the contribution is more direct.

A production needs a historic chandelier removed; the chandelier receives professional conservation work. A crew wants to use a 1934 stove; the stove is rewired and made safe to operate.

That gives Parkwood’s relationship with film and television a significance beyond simply appearing on screen.

A production may arrive because it needs a grand staircase, a period dining room, an old kitchen or a century-old garden. But the money and conservation work associated with that production can help ensure that those same spaces survive for the next generation.

As I prepared to leave Parkwood, the estate no longer felt simply like a beautiful historic mansion.

In real life, it is part of the story of Canada’s automobile industry and the legacy of the McLaughlin family.

On screen, it has lived many other lives.

It has entered the universe of Professor X and his mutants. It has appeared in productions ranging from ‘Billy Madison’, ‘Chicago’ and ‘Amelia’ to ‘Nightmare Alley’ and ‘Priscilla’, and in television and streaming series including ‘The Boys’ and ‘The Umbrella Academy’.

It has been a historic residence, a fictional school and even another planet.

And for me, standing there brought back that much older memory of travelling from Dhaka to Mymensingh to see Shashi Lodge because of ‘Ayomoy’.

Two houses on opposite sides of the world. Their histories are different. Their architecture is different. Their cultural significance is different.

But they share something that cinema and television can bestow on a physical place: a second life in the audience’s imagination. That may explain the feeling I had when I first looked at Parkwood. I had never been there before.

And yet, somehow, I felt I had seen it already.