7 Rideau Gate, Official guest house in Ottawa, Canada.
7 Rideau Gate is a two-storey stone house with a grey shingled roof, set behind a black iron fence. Its pale grey ashlar facade has dark shutters, a rounded archway entrance under a black-and-white striped canopy, and a small triangular dormer above. Two stone chimneys and a white balustrade mark the roofline.
Built in 1862 for Ottawa woollen mill owner Henry Osgoode Burritt, the house was sold in 1873 for $10,000 to Philemon Wetherall Wright, who named it Edgewood for its then position at the edge of town. The Lambart family held it from 1884 to 1934. Commodore Percy W. Nelles moved in in 1947 and stripped out the verandas and Victorian interiors; Thomas Franklin Ahearn later removed the roof walk and added shutters, an east sunroom and a west wing. The Crown acquired the property in 1966.
The house was named Edgewood by Philemon Wetherall Wright after he bought it in 1873, because it then stood at the edge of town. Since 1966 it has hosted high-level foreign officials visiting Canada, with hospitality arranged through Global Affairs Canada. Pieces donated by the Lambart family, who owned it until 1934, are among the furnishings.
The house stands on Rideau Gate near Rideau Hall and 24 Sussex Drive, behind a black iron fence with a striped canopy over the arched entrance. It is a working state guest house, not a museum: the interior is closed to the public, and the building is seen from the street.
The house was built in 1862 for Henry Osgoode Burritt, an Ottawa woollen mill owner, who sold it in 1873 for $10,000 to Philemon Wetherall Wright; Wright named it Edgewood because it then stood at the edge of town. The Lambart family, descendants of the 8th Earl of Cavan, kept it until 1934.
The community of curious travelers
AroundUs brings together thousands of curated places, local tips, and hidden gems, enriched daily by 92,676 contributors worldwide.