24 Sussex Drive
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24 Sussex Drive, Ottawa, is the Official Residence of the Prime Minister of Canada.
The house is owned by the National Capital Commission. All prime ministers since Louis St. Laurent in 1951 have lived at 24 Sussex during their terms of office.
The house at 24 Sussex Drive was built in 1866 by Joseph Currier, a lumberman and Member of Parliament, for his wife Hannah. He called the home, Gorffwysfa, Welsh for place of peace. Previous prime minsters had lived at a variety of locations about Ottawa. Mackenzie King, for instance lived at Laurier House in Sandy Hill.
It is a large, but not overly impressive structure on the edge of the Ottawa River next door to the French embassy and not far from Rideau Hall, the Governor Gerneral's residence. The house is shaded by trees and hedges and cannot easily be viewed from the road.
Several prime ministers have left their own marks on the building. Pierre Trudeau installed a pool for his frequent workouts. Brian Mulroney had a new closet installed to hold his wife's and his vast collection of Gucci shoes.
Unlike the White House or 10 Downing Street it is used almost exclusively as a place of residence and the Prime Minister's work is carried out at in the Langevin Building.
Security at 24 Sussex was overhauled following a break-in by a deranged man armed with a knife who tried to assassinate Prime Minster Chretien. The man managed to scale the fence surrounding the property without being noticed by security. He then entered the house. The noise he made woke up the Aline, the Prime Minister's wife, who locked the door to the bedroom. Chretien famously prepared to defend himself with a sharp-edged Inuit carving. Fortunately, bodyguards responded quickly and arrested the man.
In November, 2004, Prime Minister Paul Martin has complained about the house's heating system. According to his statement, the century-old house gets "too cold in the winter and too hot in the summer".
Other Canadian official residences
- Rideau Hall (1 Sussex Drive, Ottawa) - Residence of the Governor General
- La Citadelle (Quebec City) -- Residence of the Governor General in Quebec City
- Stornoway (541 Acacia Street, Ottawa) - Residence of the Leader of the Opposition
- Harrington Lake (Gatineau Park) - Prime Minister's retreat
- The Farm (Gatineau Park) - Residence of the Speaker of the House of Commons
- 7 Rideau Gate (Ottawa) - Official guest house of the Canadian government
