Laurier House (french: Maison Laurier) is a National Historic Site in

Ottawa Ottawa (, ; Canadian French: ) is the capital city of Canada. It is located at the confluence of the Ottawa River and the Rideau River in the southern portion of the province of Ontario. Ottawa borders Gatineau, Quebec, and forms the c ...

Ontario Ontario ( ; ) is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada.Ontario is located in the geographic eastern half of Canada, but it has historically and politically been considered to be part of Central Canada. Located in Central Ca ...

, Canada (in the Sandy Hill district). It was formerly the residence of two Canadian prime ministers: Sir

Wilfrid Laurier Sir Henri Charles Wilfrid Laurier, ( ; ; November 20, 1841 – February 17, 1919) was a Canadian lawyer, statesman, and politician who served as the seventh prime minister of Canada from 1896 to 1911. The first French Canadian prime mini ...

(for whom the house is named) and

William Lyon Mackenzie King William Lyon Mackenzie King (December 17, 1874 – July 22, 1950) was a Canadian statesman and politician who served as the tenth prime minister of Canada for three non-consecutive terms from 1921 to 1926, 1926 to 1930, and 1935 to 1948. A L ...

. The home is now a

historic house museum A historic house museum is a house of historic significance that has been transformed into a museum. Historic furnishings may be displayed in a way that reflects their original placement and usage in a home. Historic house museums are held to a ...

that is open to the public for guided tours from

Victoria Day Victoria Day (french: Fête de la Reine, lit=Celebration of the Queen) is a federal Canadian public holiday celebrated on the last Monday preceding May 25. Initially in honour of Queen Victoria's birthday, it has since been celebrated as the off ...

in May until

Thanksgiving Thanksgiving is a national holiday celebrated on various dates in the United States, Canada, Grenada, Saint Lucia, Liberia, and unofficially in countries like Brazil and Philippines. It is also observed in the Netherlander town of Leiden ...

in October. Its address is 335 Laurier Avenue East.

History

The house was built in 1878, but it had significant later alterations. It now exhibits elements of the

Italianate The Italianate style was a distinct 19th-century phase in the history of Classical architecture. Like Palladianism and Neoclassicism, the Italianate style drew its inspiration from the models and architectural vocabulary of 16th-century Italian ...

manner, as well as traces of

Second Empire Second Empire may refer to: * Second British Empire, used by some historians to describe the British Empire after 1783 * Second Bulgarian Empire (1185–1396) * Second French Empire (1852–1870) ** Second Empire architecture, an architectural styl ...

style. Laurier lived there from 1897 until his death in 1919. His wife,

Zoé Laurier Zoé, Lady Laurier ( Lafontaine; June 26, 1841 – November 1, 1921), was the wife of Sir Wilfrid Laurier, the seventh Prime Minister of Canada. Biography Zoé Lafontaine was born on 27 June 1841 to Godefroy-Napoleon Robert and Zoé Tessier ...

, willed the house to Mackenzie King upon her death in 1921. King then lived there from 1923 until his death in 1950, and he willed the house to the

Canadian Crown The monarchy of Canada is Canada's form of government embodied by the Canadian sovereign and head of state. It is at the core of Canada's constitutional federal structure and Westminster-style parliamentary democracy. The monarchy is the founda ...

. The Cabinet then briefly considered designating the home as the permanent

official residence An official residence is the House, residence of a head of state, head of government, governor, Clergy, religious leader, leaders of international organizations, or other senior figure. It may be the same place where they conduct their work-relate ...

of the prime minister. However, the prime minister at the time, Louis St. Laurent, opposed designating it as such. Instead,

24 Sussex Drive 24 Sussex Drive, originally called ''Gorffwysfa'' and usually referred to simply as 24 Sussex, is the official residence of the prime minister of Canada, located in the New Edinburgh neighbourhood of Ottawa, Ontario. Built between 1866 and 1868 by ...

—a property the Crown had acquired a few years earlier through expropriation—was selected and designated as the prime minister's official residence in 1951. Many distinguished guests of Canada were received at this house, such as King

George VI George VI (Albert Frederick Arthur George; 14 December 1895 – 6 February 1952) was King of the United Kingdom and the Dominions of the British Commonwealth from 11 December 1936 until his death in 1952. He was also the last Emperor of I ...

, Sir

Winston Churchill Sir Winston Leonard Spencer Churchill (30 November 187424 January 1965) was a British statesman, soldier, and writer who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom twice, from 1940 to 1945 during the Second World War, and again from ...

Charles de Gaulle Charles André Joseph Marie de Gaulle (; ; (commonly abbreviated as CDG) 22 November 18909 November 1970) was a French army officer and statesman who led Free France against Nazi Germany in World War II and chaired the Provisional Governm ...

, Franklin D. Roosevelt, and others. Under the terms of the ''Laurier House Act 1951'', the home and its grounds were entrusted to the

National Capital Commission The National Capital Commission (NCC; french: Commission de la capitale nationale, CCN) is the Crown corporation responsible for development, urban planning, and conservation in Canada's Capital Region (Ottawa, Ontario and Gatineau, Quebec), i ...

(NCC), the

Department of Public Works This list indicates government departments in various countries dedicated to public works or infrastructure. See also * Public works * Ministry or Board of Public Works, the imperial Chinese ministry overseeing public projects from the Tang ...

, and

Library and Archives Canada Library and Archives Canada (LAC; french: Bibliothèque et Archives Canada) is the federal institution, tasked with acquiring, preserving, and providing accessibility to the documentary heritage of Canada. The national archive and library is t ...

. Since 1988, the house has been administered by

Parks Canada Parks Canada (PC; french: Parcs Canada),Parks Canada is the applied title under the Federal Identity Program; the legal title is Parks Canada Agency (). is the agency of the Government of Canada which manages the country's 48 National Parks, th ...

as part of the national park system, operating it as a public museum. However, the NCC continues to maintain the grounds, and the national archives retain ownership of all archival materials in the house.Laurier House National Historic Site Management Plan, Parks Canada, February 2007, pp. 2-3

References

External links

*
Laurier House National Historic Site
{{Ontario parks Museums in Ottawa Prime ministerial residences Houses in Ottawa Historic house museums in Ontario National Historic Sites in Ontario Italianate architecture in Canada Wilfrid Laurier Classified Federal Heritage Building