Seminars and company events
The CAPE hosts corporate retreats, conferences, team-building programs, product launches and private events, with spaces that range from a 12-seat dining room to a garden for 900 standing guests. The venue occupies a restored heritage mansion at 347 Main Street in Picton, the main town of Prince Edward County, Ontario, and runs as both an event venue and a boutique hotel.
For company groups, the house offers a sequence of indoor rooms of different sizes, so a retreat can hold a plenary in the ballroom, a working session in the Janis Joplin Hall and a client dinner in the Mark Twain Dining Room. The front lawn is used for outdoor yoga, lawn games and dining in the open air. The venue states that its Wi-Fi supports audiovisual needs and that support staff stay on hand during events. Its team cites more than 20 years of corporate event experience and quotes a range of 10 to 1,500 guests for business bookings.
Weddings and receptions
Weddings run from elopements for 2 to 8 guests and micro weddings for 8 to 40 to full celebrations, with the venue quoting up to 1,000 guests for the whole property. Ceremonies can take place in the garden under the trees or, for small groups, in the Janis Joplin Hall. Receptions use the ballroom, the veranda, the salons and the garden, which can take a full tented reception, and the main staircase of the house is used for first looks. After-parties move to the ballroom or to a nightclub room in the house. The wedding party can stay in the suites.
Rooms and capacities
The Wilde Garden, open in spring, summer and fall, seats 50 to 500 and takes 900 standing under four old black walnut trees. The veranda that opens onto it seats 170. The Odyssey Ballroom seats 150 and holds 250 standing, set up for dining and dancing. The Janis Joplin Hall, with a baby grand piano, a bay window and good acoustics, seats 36 or holds 60 standing. The Robbie Burns Lounge, with exposed 1863 masonry, a black marble hearth and a Murano glass chandelier, seats 20 or holds 40. The Mark Twain Dining Room seats 12 or holds 24.
Accommodation
Four suites are on site: the Elizabeth Taylor, Richard Burton and Cary Grant king suites and the Audrey Hepburn queen suite. The Cary Grant and Audrey Hepburn suites can be joined to give a group private use of a whole wing of the mansion. A continental breakfast is included with each stay.
Catering
Food service is provided by hand-picked vendors, and the venue keeps a preferred vendor list that covers catering and florists, so the menu is arranged with a caterer from that list.
History and setting
The house was built between 1855 and 1863 for Walter Ross, who served four terms as mayor of Picton and later represented the area in Ottawa. A renovation in several stages kept the original design while adding the veranda, rebuilding the walnut front doors with local craftsmen, restoring the 19th-century radiators and bringing in modern services. Interiors combine Carrara marble, Art Deco finishes and blue heron motifs.
Getting there
The venue is on Main Street in the center of Picton, within walking distance of the town's shops and restaurants. Most guests arrive by car across Prince Edward County, and Belleville is the closest VIA Rail station.
