HERITAGE OTTAWA

A research project by Hagit Hadaya, a recipient of Heritage Ottawa's GORDON CULLINGHAM RESEARCH AND PUBLICATION GRANT, has culminated in the publication of a book, At Home With The Prime Minister: Ottawa Residences of the Prime Ministers Prior to 1952.

The grant was awarded to Ms. Hadaya by Heritage Ottawa in 2016 in support of her research into the Ottawa homes of twelve of Canada’s Prime Ministers up to 1952, when 24 Sussex Drive became the official prime minister's residence.

“It’s very satisfying to see a research project that Heritage Ottawa has supported through our Cullingham Grant come to fruition in the form of this wonderful book,” said Heritage Ottawa president David Jeanes at the book launch, which took place at the Bytown Museum on September 12. “This kind of work helps to raise awareness about the city’s fascinating built heritage.”

Beginning in 1867 with Sir John A. Macdonald, At Home With the Prime Minister covers eleven more of Canada’s leaders, ending in 1952 with Louis St. Laurent who was the first to move into the new official residence at 24 Sussex Drive.  During the previous eighty-five years, prime ministers had to find lodgings on their own and many chose the city’s more affluent hotels, such as The Russell, The Roxborough and the Chateau Laurier.  For others, family life meant finding large and comfortable houses, some of which continue to exist today.

Each story mixes interesting anecdotal descriptions of domestic life and entertaining Ottawa’s elite gleaned from personal diaries and letters with architectural details that include formal drawings and full-page historic photographs. The book is available from the author.

This year also saw the publication of another project supported by a GORDON CULLINGHAM RESEARCH AND PUBLICATION GRANT.  Exploring the Capital: An Architectural Guide to the Ottawa-Gatineau Region, by Andrew Waldron with contributions by Harold Kalman and photographs by Peter Coffman, was published this past June. 

Heritage Ottawa is now inviting applications for the 2018 GORDON CULLINGHAM RESEARCH and PUBLICATION GRANT.  Applications must be submitted no later than November 1st, 2017.