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Laurier House, Canada

Category: Attraction

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Laurier / Chapel
Ottawa
ON K1N
Canada

Ottawa, Canada Print route » N45° 25' 39.6" W75° 40' 40.6"   (45.427666666667, -75.677944444444) Start navigation »

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Laurier House is a National Historic Site in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada, located at 335 Laurier Avenue East (in the Sandy Hill district). It was formerly the residence of two Canadian Prime Ministers, Sir Wilfrid Laurier (for whom the house is named) and William Lyon Mackenzie King. The house was built in 1878, but had significant later alterations. Laurier House exhibits elements of the Italianate manner as well as traces of Second Empire style.
Laurier lived there from 1897 until his death in 1919. His wife willed the house to Mackenzie King upon her death. King lived there 1923 until his death in 1950. King willed the house to the people of Canada upon his death. The government then briefly considered designating Laurier House as the permanent official residence of the Prime Minister. However, the Prime Minister at the time, Louis St. Laurent, opposed designating Laurier House an official residence, probably because he personally preferred a different residence (specifically, 24 Sussex Drive, a property the government had acquired a few years earlier through an eviction) and/or because he and his fellow Liberals did not want future Conservative Prime Ministers residing at Laurier House. 24 Sussex Drive was designated the Prime Minister's official residence in 1951.
Many distinguished guests from abroad were received at this house, such as Britain's King George VI, Sir Winston Churchill, Charles de Gaulle, Franklin D. Roosevelt, and others.
Under the terms of the Laurier House Act of 1951, the house and its grounds were entrusted to the National Capital Commission (NCC), the Department of Public Works, and the Public Archives. Since 1988, the house has been administered by Parks Canada as part of the national park system. However, the NCC continues to maintain the grounds, and the national archives retains ownership of all archival materials in the house.
Parks Canada operates the site as a public museum. A popular summer attraction since 2003 is the Summer Heritage Theatre Series on the veranda, and Evening Butler tours. Laurier House is open to the public for guided tours from Victoria Day in May until Thanksgiving in October.

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