36. Fréchette House
A charming, late 19th century suburban villa at 87 MacKay Street, this picturesque, red brick home with contrasting yellow brick trim features a steep gable roof with centre door projection and a charming garden setting. Significantly, this house is exceptional to Canadian culture and identity. Most noteworthy of all its many residents, were Achille Fréchette, poet, lawyer, journalist, chief translator for the House of Commons; and his American wife, Annie Howells, novelist and author of many short stories.
Achille and Annie were the ‘IT’ couple of Ottawa in the 1870s. As accomplished writers and gregarious hosts, their house became something of a crossroads for a generation of Canadian literary stars of their time. They counted Sir Wilfrid Laurier and poet Archibald Lampman among their friends. Like many Canadian writers of the late 19th century, Achille strove to capture what is essentially true of the Canadian landscape. Here is his captivating description of the Saint Lawrence River in winter, as cited in James Doyle’s biography of Achille Fréchette and Annie Howells:
C’est l’hiver. Des monceaux [sic : morceaux] de glaces entassées
Couvrent du Saint-Laurent les rives délaissées ;
De gros floçons [sic : flocons] de neige obscurcissent les aires ;
La nuit descend du ciel, nuit hâtive et profonde,
Un pavre [sic : pauvre] prêtre, seul, sur la berge qui gronde
S’avance à pas tardifs dans des sentiers déserts !
After many years in Ottawa, Achille and Annie left to lead a peripatetic life, travelling widely in Europe before finally settling in their elderly years in California, where they both passed away. Did Achille dream of his distant fleuve Saint-Laurent while under the palm trees?
The Fréchette House is designated under Part IV of the Ontario Heritage Act for its architectural qualities and historical associations, but its setting is significant as well. Built in 1877, the house is located in historic New Edinburgh, itself designated as a Heritage Conservation District. The area was acquired in the early 19th century by stonemason and entrepreneur Thomas MacKay as an area suitable for the workers employed at his mills located at the Rideau Falls. Bit by bit throughout the mid-19th century, as Ottawa became more middle class and more affluent, modest workers’ housing of this area was replaced by sturdy middle-class dwellings such as this one.
In March of 2013, a devastating fire ripped through the house, destroying the interior and the roof structure. Two firefighters were injured in what became a three-alarm blaze, but thankfully recovered. Fortunately the exterior walls of the house survived in relatively good condition, and a careful restoration followed. The owners of the house deserve a great deal of credit for committing to bringing this house back, literally, from the ashes. In 2014, the project received a City of Ottawa Heritage Award in the Award of Excellence: Restoration (small-scale) category.
References
Individually Designated Properties
“Two Firefighters Injured in Million-Dollar Fire at Historic Fréchette House in New Edinburgh” Ottawa Citizen, 15 March 2013.
“Heritage House Owner Vows to Rebuild,” CBC, 15 March 2013.
Andrew Waldron, Exploring the Capital: An Architectural Guide to the Ottawa-Gatineau Region (Vancouver: Figure 1 Publishing, 2017), p. 118.
Ottawa: A Guide to Heritage Structures (Ottawa: LACAC, 2000), pp. 159-61, 164.
Katherine Fletcher, Capital Walks: Walking Tours of Ottawa, 2nd ed., (Fitzhenry and Whiteside, Markham, 2004), p. 123.
James Doyle, Annie Howells and Louis Fréchette, (Toronto: University of Toronto Press, 1979).
