Description of Historic Place

The Official Guest Residence at Seven Rideau Gate, is a handsome stone building located near the entrance to the Governor-General’s residence. The two-storey, stone structure has a metal clad, hipped roof with wide bracketed eaves, and regular, symmetrically placed windows which give it a formal aspect in keeping with its role. The designation is confined to the footprint of the building.

Heritage Value

The Official Guest Residence is a Recognized Federal Heritage Building because of its historical associations, and its architectural and environmental values.

Historical Value:
The Official Guest Residence is associated with the early development of Ottawa. Until the government expropriated it in 1966, the building belonged to five successive business families in Ottawa. The trend in the mid-19th century for the elite to move away from the city centre led to the development of the villas in and around Rockcliffe Park, which became the most fashionable area in Ottawa. The purchase of Earnscliffe for the British High Commission in 1930, the construction of the French Embassy in 1936-1939, 5 Rideau Gate into the South African Embassy in 1944, the conversion of 24 Sussex Drive into the prime minister’s official residence in 1949, and finally with the purchase of Seven Rideau Gate in 1966, have together created an enclave of official residences and embassies at the east end of what is now the ceremonial route.

Architectural Value:
The Official Guest Residence is valued for its good aesthetics and is, in its present form after extensive changes, an example of the domestic architecture built for wealthy owners from the 1920s until the 1950s. This detached stone house has an unembellished principal façade, which classes the house as Georgian Revival, a style popular in the late 1920s and 1930s. Good craftsmanship can be seen in the quality of the evenly coursed stonework.

Environmental Value:
The Official Guest Residence reinforces the character of the exclusive residential area next to official government residences. It is also known to visitors, local inhabitants and to those using Sussex Drive.

Sources: Sally Coutts, Seven Rideau Gate, Ottawa, Ontario, Heritage Buildings Review Office Report 85-068; Seven Rideau Gate, Seven Rideau Gate, Ottawa, Ontario, Heritage Character Statement 85-068.

Character-Defining Elements

The following character-defining elements of the Official Guest Residence should be respected.

Its good aesthetics, functional design, and craftsmanship, for example: the two-storey massing; the truncated hipped roof clad in metal, and the widely projecting bracketed eaves; the evenly coursed, cut stone exterior walls, and the symmetrically placed chimneys; the regular, symmetrically placed, shuttered windows; the restrained, unembellished principal façade with classically inspired entrance.

The manner in which the Official Guest Residence is compatible with the formal character of the setting that contains official and governmental buildings, and is a familiar landmark as evidenced by: its scale, design and materials that maintain a visual and physical relationship with the other official residences in the exclusive neighbourhood; its location adjacent to the Governor-General’s official residence, opposite the Prime Minister’s official residence on Sussex Drive and close to the Ottawa River, which makes it a familiar landmark.

Heritage Character Statement

Disclaimer - The heritage character statement was developed by FHBRO to explain the reasons for the designation of a federal heritage building and what it is about the building that makes it significant (the heritage character). It is a key reference document for anyone involved in planning interventions to federal heritage buildings and is used by FHBRO in their review of interventions.

Seven Rideau Gate, the official guest house of the Canadian Government, was built in 1861-62. Both the architect and the builder are unknown. It was Recognized because it is a convenient example of Ottawa's development and because its setting reinforces the present character of the area.

HISTORICAL ASSOCIATIONS
Until it was expropriated by the Government in 1966 the building belonged to five successive business families in Ottawa. The impulse to move away from the city centre by members of the elite occured in other Canadian cities in the mid-nineteenth century. Ottawa's elite were following this trend when they moved to the area at the junction of tht Rideau and Ottawa Rivers. This movement to the east of the city heralded the 1864 development of Rockcliffe Park into lots for villas. In the 1920s and 1930s many new houses were built, particularly in Rockcliffe Park and the neighbourhood became the most fashionable in Ottawa. The conversion of 24 Sussex Drive into the prime minister's official residence in 1949, 5 Rideau Gate into the South African Embassy in 1944, the purchase of Earnscliffe for the British High Commission in 1930, the construction of th French Embassy in 1936-39 and the purchase of Seven Rideau Gate in 1966 have together created an enclave of official residences and embassies at the east end of what is now
the ceremonial route.

ARCHITECTURE
Seven Rideau Gate is a two storey roughcut stone structure with a truncated hipped roof. It was typical of picturesque villas and cottages constructed in the 1840s and 1850s in Ontario and Quebec. This type of house was becoming less popular as the century advanced but was occasionally built into the 1860s. The building has undergone extensive changes since its construction including the removal of its verandahs and the addition of a
garage in 1934. A sunroom and a two storey wing added in 1947 were well executed and (-are was taken to match the local stone and fenestration of the original portion of the building In 19b6 the Department of Public Works purchased the building. There have been few external changes since that time. Seven Rideau Gate is a pleasing, although completely typical, example of domestic architecture built for the wealthy from the 1920s until the 1950s. Features such as the sunroom, symmetrically placed shuttered windows and the classically inspired doorway can be found on many Canadian houses of the day.

ENVIRMMENT
Rideau Gate is a short street that faces the entrance and fence of Rideau Hall and runs into Sussex Drive opposite the gates to 24 Sussex Drive. The houses on the street, although constructed at different times and of differing materials, present a harmonious streetscape. Seven Rideau Gate is an integral part of this cluster of official and private residences between New Edinburgh and Rockcliffe Park and reinforces the elegant quality of this area of Ottawa.