Billings Estate Museum, Heritage estate museum in Alta Vista Ward, Ottawa, Canada.
The Billings Estate Museum sits on an 8-acre property and contains the oldest wood-frame house in Ottawa, built between 1827 and 1829. The site includes outbuildings, gardens, and a cemetery where early settlers were buried.
Braddish Billings built the estate to establish his family's presence in the region, and his descendants occupied it for four generations. The property later transitioned to public ownership and became a museum operated by the city.
The cemetery on the grounds reflects how pioneer families were honored and remembered in early Ottawa society. Walking through it reveals the names and stories of settlers who shaped the region.
The museum is accessible on foot and has on-site parking available for visitors. Both the indoor areas and outdoor grounds can be explored, with the latter being accessible year-round.
The house is Ottawa's oldest surviving wood-frame building and represents early 19th-century pioneer architecture at its origins. Few visitors realize how the building's layout and furnishings reveal daily life during that era.
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