Laurier House National Historic Site of Canada

The Laurier Years

Residence of Sir Wilfrid Laurier, (Laurier Avenue, East) circa 1901
© National Archives of Canada / p-028196

When Sir Wilfrid Laurier became a member of Parliament in 1874, he and his wife Zoé were living in Arthabaska, a small town in the Eastern Townships of the Province of Quebec. As a member, he was required to be in Ottawa only while the House of Commons was in session and, consequently he and Zoé had no reason to buy a house in the capital. Their situation changed drastically after Laurier became Canada's prime minister in 1896. Because the government of Canada did not provide a residence for the prime minister, the Lauriers had to find a house of their own that would be appropriate to his office as prime minister and large enough for the entertaining that they were expected to do. As Laurier was not a wealthy man, this presented them with a major problem. The solution was found by a group of friends who raised the money to buy the Leslie house in Sandy Hill and to set up a fund to help the Lauriers pay the expenses of running it.

Sir Wilfrid and Lady Laurier moved into their new home in the fall of 1897. They remained there through the years when Laurier was prime minister and afterwards when, the Liberal party having lost power, he became the Leader of the Opposition (1911 - 1919). There they died, Laurier in 1919, Zoé in 1921.

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