MacKenzie King Estate

	The Mackenzie King Estate

The Mackenzie King Estate was the country retreat of Canada's 10th Prime Minister, William Lyon Mackenzie King. This estate offers restored cottages, beautiful gardens complete with stone ruins, walking trails, and a tea room.

Mackenzie King, was an eccentric. To give his property a more distinguished appearance, King collected stones to erect ruins scattered through the gardens. The 'ruins' are one of the oddest features of the place. Mackenzie King had them built from bits of other buildings he had shipped up to his estate for that purpose. A fireplace contains three stones from the house of his grandfather (and namesake) political activist William Lyon Mackenzie to represent the fires of freedom. If you look carefully, you can even find the Coat of Arms of the original Parliament Buildings in Britain! The Estate is said to be haunted possibly because King died there or because of King's own psychic activities. King had an avid interest in spiritualism and sometimes invited mediums to his estate for private consultations. His meticulous diaries, contain details of the séances, and are now available online at http://king.archives.ca.

How to get to the Estate
The Estate is located only 25 minutes from downtown Ottawa. Take Highway 5 north to Exit 12. Turn left onto Old Chelsea Road. Old Chelsea Road becomes Meech Lake Road. Turn left onto the Gatineau Parkway and eventually turn right onto the Champlain Parkway. Then, follow the signs to the Estate.

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