24 Sussex Drive

from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
24 Sussex Drive

24 Sussex Drive (also known as Gorffwysfa , fr. 24, promenade Sussex ) is the official residence of the Prime Minister of Canada . It is located in the capital Ottawa in the New Edinburgh district , north of the confluence of the Rideau River in the Ottawa . It was built by Joseph Merrill Currier between 1866 and 1868 . In 1950, Louis Saint-Laurent was the first Prime Minister to move in here.

history

The house was built from 1866 to 1868 by Joseph Merrill Currier, a sawmill owner and member of the House of Commons , as a gift for his future wife. He named the house Gorffwysfa , Welsh for "place of peace". After Currier's death in 1884, the widow continued to live there. In 1901 the house came into the possession of William Cameron Edwards, a sawmill entrepreneur and politician, and in 1926 to his nephew Gordon Edwards.

By 1943, the federal government had bought up all of the land in the neighborhood to protect it from speculation. The last thing left was 24 Sussex Drive so the government ordered the eviction . Edwards fought against it with legal means, but lost in court in 1946. The government was initially unsure of what to do with the house, but in 1950 decided to renovate it and use it as the prime minister's residence. A year later, Louis Saint-Laurent moved in there. Every successive Prime Minister lived there except for Kim Campbell , up to and including Stephen Harper . After he moved out, renovation and restoration work began on the building.

building

24 Sussex Drive is a large limestone building with 34 rooms on four floors. Next door is the French Embassy, ​​across the street Rideau Hall , the Governor General's residence . The house is almost entirely residential, with the Prime Minister's offices in the Center Block and Langevin Block on Parliament Hill ; however, informal meetings are sometimes held on Sussex Drive.

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. Justin Trudeau won't move in to 24 Sussex, says Margaret Trudeau. CBCnews , October 23, 2015, accessed January 26, 2016 .

Coordinates: 45 ° 26 '39.7 "  N , 75 ° 41' 38.2"  W.