Rideau Hall

We took Jason and Jannis to see Rideau Hall.

The original stone villa was built in 1838 by Thomas MacKay as a home for his family. MacKay, a stonemason, was one of the general contractors of the Rideau Canal entrance locks and the mills at Rideau Falls, the landmark after which Rideau Hall was named. It has been home to every governor general since Confederation.  The governor general is the chief representative of the British Crown in a Commonwealth country of which the British monarch is head of state.  So Canada has 3 major leaders- the crown, the governor general, and the prime minister.

A model of all of the buildings that have been added over the years.

The tent room is my favorite.  It was built to play tennis in!

The beautiful ballroom.

The cozy den.

There are tables and chairs on display that were built in England during the 1600s.

I particularly liked this dragon chair.

Lovely stained glass.

I think these radiator covers are so pretty and would hang them on my wall at home.

An impressive necklace in the awards and medals room.

Photo of the current governor general, Mary Simon, and her husband.

I do love seeing the lion and the unicorn.  Yes, I am an anglophile.

The grounds around the hall are lovely too, but we were so hot, ha ha!