View source for Rideau Hall

{{short description|Official residence of the Governor General of Canada}}
{{For|the television series of the same name|Rideau Hall (TV series)}}
{{Use Canadian English|date=January 2023}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=October 2021}}
{{Infobox Historic building
|name                    = Government House
|native_name             = Rideau Hall
|image                   = Ottawa - Rideau Hall.JPG
|caption                 = Main façade of Government House
|map_type                =
|coordinates             = {{coord|45.443753|-75.685641|region:CA-ON|display=inline}}
|address                 = 1 [[Sussex Drive|Sussex Dr.]]
|location_city           = Ottawa, Ontario
|location_country        = Canada
|architect               = [[Thomas McKay]], [[David Ewart]], etc.
|client                  = Thomas McKay (1838), [[Monarchy of Canada|The Crown in Right of Canada]] (1865, 1872, 1899, 1906, 1914, 1925, 2004)
|engineer                =
|construction_start_date = 1838
|date_demolished         =
|cost                    = $82,000 (1868)
|structural_system       =
|owner                   = [[Monarchy of Canada|The King in Right of Canada]]{{cite-needed|date=April 2024}}
|landlord                = [[National Capital Commission]]
|current_tenants         = 
|style                   = [[Regency architecture|Regency]], [[Norman architecture|Norman Revival]], [[Renaissance architecture#Development of Renaissance architecture in Italy – Early Renaissance|Florentine Renaissance Revival]]
|size                    = {{convert|9500|m2|abbr=on}}
|rooms                   = ≈ 175
|embedded                = {{designation list|embed=yes|designation1=Canada|designation1_date=1977}}
}}

'''Rideau Hall''' (officially '''Government House''') is the [[official residence]] of the [[governor general of Canada]], the representative of the [[monarch of Canada]].<ref>{{cite web |title=Rideau Hall |url=https://ncc-ccn.gc.ca/places/rideau-hall |website=National Capital Commission |publisher=Government of Canada |access-date=March 27, 2024|quote= For more than 150 years, this heritage site has been the official residence of Canada’s governors general.}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |title=Federal Heritage Buildings: Rideau Hall : Complex as a whole |url=https://www.pc.gc.ca/apps/dfhd/page_fhbro_eng.aspx?id=2795 |website=Parks Canada |publisher=Government of Canada |access-date=March 27, 2024|quote=The Rideau Hall Complex contains the official residence, the landscaped grounds and the outbuildings, which together constitute the vice-regal estate of the Governor General of Canada.}}</ref><ref>{{cite web | title=History of Rideau Hall | website=The Governor General of Canada | date=Nov 20, 2017 | url=https://www.gg.ca/en/visit-us/rideau-hall/history-rideau-hall|quote=In 1868, the year after Confederation, the Government of Canada purchased the house and grounds for $82,000 and declared it the official residence for Canada’s governors general......Rideau Hall has been the official residence of every governor general of Canada since 1867 and their workplace since 1940. }}</ref> Located in [[Ottawa]], the [[Capital city|capital]] of the country, on a {{convert|88|acre|ha|adj=on|order=flip}} estate at 1 [[Sussex Drive]], the main building consists of approximately 175 rooms across {{convert|9500|m2|sqft}}, and 27 outbuildings around the grounds. Rideau Hall's site lies just outside the centre of Ottawa.<ref name=Mon>{{cite journal| last=Aimers| first=John| author-link=John Aimers| title=The Palace on the Rideau| journal=Monarchy Canada| issue=Spring 1996| publisher=Monarchist League of Canada| location=Toronto| date=April 1996| url=http://www.monarchist.ca/mc/palace.htm| accessdate=20 February 2009| archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090131134713/http://www.monarchist.ca/mc/palace.htm| archive-date=31 January 2009}}</ref> It is one of two official [[vice-regal]] residences<ref>{{cite web |title=Rideau Hall : Complex as a whole |url=https://www.pc.gc.ca/apps/dfhd/page_fhbro_eng.aspx?id=2795 |website=Federal Heritage Buildings |publisher=Parks Canada}}</ref> maintained by the federal Crown, the other being the [[Citadelle of Quebec]]. It is also used as the official residence of the monarch of Canada, when he is in Canada.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Heritage |first=Canadian |date=2025-05-20 |title=Itinerary unveiled for the 2025 Royal Visit of Their Majesties King Charles III and Queen Camilla |url=https://www.canada.ca/en/canadian-heritage/news/2025/05/itinerary-unveiled-for-the-2025-royal-visit-of-their-majesties-king-charles-iii-and-queen-camilla.html |access-date=2025-05-20 |website=www.canada.ca}}</ref>

Most of Rideau Hall is used for state affairs, only {{convert|500|m2|sqft}} of its area being dedicated to private living quarters, while additional areas serve as the offices of the [[Canadian Heraldic Authority]]<ref>{{Cite web| url=http://www.gg.ca/en/heraldry/canadian-heraldic-authority| title=Canadian Heraldic Authority| date=2017-03-06| accessdate=19 November 2018| archive-date=19 November 2018| archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181119214706/http://www.gg.ca/en/heraldry/canadian-heraldic-authority| url-status=live}}</ref> and the principal workplace of the governor general and their staff; either the term ''Rideau Hall'', as a [[Metonymy|metonym]], or the formal idiom ''Government House'' is employed to refer to this bureaucratic branch. Officially received at the palace are foreign [[Head of state|heads of state]], both incoming and outgoing [[ambassador]]s and [[High commissioner (Commonwealth)|high commissioners]] to Canada, and Canadian [[Minister of the Crown|Crown ministers]] for [[Audience (meeting)|audiences]] with either the viceroy or the sovereign, should the latter be in residence. Rideau Hall is likewise the location of many [[Orders, decorations, and medals of Canada|Canadian award]] presentations and investitures, where [[Prime Minister of Canada|prime ministers]] and other members of the [[Cabinet of Canada|federal Cabinet]] are sworn in, and where federal [[Writ of election|writs of election]] are "dropped", among other ceremonial and constitutional functions.

Rideau Hall and the surrounding grounds were designated as a [[National Historic Sites of Canada|National Historic Site of Canada]] in 1977.<ref name=ReferenceA>{{DFHD|473|Rideau Hall and Landscaped Grounds National Historic Site of Canada}}</ref><ref>{{CRHP|7692|Rideau Hall and Landscaped Grounds National Historic Site of Canada}}</ref> The house is open to the public for guided tours throughout the year; approximately 200,000 visitors tour Rideau Hall annually.<ref name=GGRH>{{cite web |url=http://www.gg.ca/rh/rh_e.asp |archive-url=https://wayback.archive-it.org/all/20071220024357/http://www.gg.ca/rh/rh_e.asp |url-status=dead |archive-date=20 December 2007 |last=Office of the Governor General of Canada |title=Rideau Hall |publisher=Queen's Printer for Canada |accessdate=20 February 2009 }}</ref> Since 1934, the [[Federal District Commission]] (now the [[National Capital Commission]]) has managed the grounds.<ref>{{Cite encyclopedia |url=https://www.thecanadianencyclopedia.ca/en/article/rideau-hall |title=Rideau Hall |first=Jacqueline |last=Hucker |date=4 March 2015 |encyclopedia=[[The Canadian Encyclopedia]] |publisher=[[Historica Canada]] |edition=online |accessdate=18 November 2018 |archive-date=18 November 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181118205911/https://www.thecanadianencyclopedia.ca/en/article/rideau-hall |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{Cite web | url=http://ccn-ncc.gc.ca/endroits-a-visiter/residences-officielles | title=Gestion des résidences officielles de la région de la capitale du… | accessdate=19 November 2018 | archive-date=19 November 2018 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181119214609/http://ccn-ncc.gc.ca/endroits-a-visiter/residences-officielles | url-status=live }}</ref>

==Name==
The name ''Rideau Hall'' was chosen by Thomas McKay for his villa, drawing inspiration from the [[Rideau Canal]] which he had helped construct, though the house was also known colloquially as ''McKay's Castle''.<ref name=LAC/> Once the house became the official residence of the governor general, it was termed formally as ''Government House''. However, Rideau Hall stuck as the informal name, and the existence of two names for the building led to some issue: in 1889 the [[Viceregal consort of Canada|viceregal consort]], the Lady Stanley of Preston, was rebuked by Queen Victoria for calling the house Rideau Hall; it was to be Government House, as in all other Empire capitals.<ref>{{Harvnb| Hubbard| 1977| p=67}}</ref> Today, however, Rideau Hall is the commonly accepted term for the house, with Government House remaining only in use for very formal or legal affairs; for example, [[royal proclamation]]s will finish with the phrase: "At Our Government House, in Our City of Ottawa [...]"<ref>{{cite journal|last=Elizabeth II| author-link=Elizabeth II| title=Proclamation Designating July 28 of Every Year as "A Day of Commemoration of the Great Upheaval", Commencing on July 28, 2005| journal=Canada Gazette| volume=137| issue=27| date=31 December 2003| id=SI/2003-188| url=http://canadagazette.gc.ca/partII/2003/20031231/html/si188-e.html| accessdate=21 February 2009| url-status=dead| archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080123120640/http://canadagazette.gc.ca/partII/2003/20031231/html/si188-e.html| archive-date=23 January 2008 }}</ref>

==History==
===McKay villa===
[[File:MacKayplan.jpg|thumb|Floor plan of the original McKay villa superimposed over the present-day footprint of Rideau Hall. The building was significantly expanded after its acquisition by the Crown.]]
The site of Rideau Hall and the original structure were chosen and built by stonemason [[Thomas McKay]],<ref name=LAC>{{Cite DCB |url=http://www.biographi.ca/en/bio/mckay_thomas_8E.html |title=McKay, Thomas |first=E.F. |last=Bush |volume=VIII}}</ref> who immigrated from [[Perth, Scotland]], to [[Montreal]], Lower Canada, in 1817 and later became the main contractor involved in the construction of the [[Rideau Canal]]. Following the completion of the canal, McKay built mills at [[Rideau Falls]], making him the founder of [[New Edinburgh]], now a neighbourhood of Ottawa. With his newly acquired wealth, McKay purchased the {{cvt|100|acre|km2|adj=on|order=flip}}<ref name=CPAC>{{cite AV media| people=Christie-Luff, Catherine; Clark, Catherine| title=Rideau Hall – Inside Canada's House| medium=Digital video| publisher=CPAC| location=Ottawa| date=2014| url=http://www.cpac.ca/en/programs/documentaries/episodes/35927082/| accessdate=13 January 2015| archive-date=3 March 2016| archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160303232712/http://www.cpac.ca/en/programs/documentaries/episodes/35927082/| url-status=live}}</ref> site overlooking both the [[Ottawa River|Ottawa]] and [[Rideau River]]s and built a stone [[villa]], where he and his family lived until 1855 and which became the root of the present day Rideau Hall.<ref name=Hubbard>{{citation| last=Hubbard| first=R.H.| title=Rideau Hall| publisher=McGill-Queen's University Press| year=1977| location=Montreal and London| page=[https://archive.org/details/rideauhallillust00hubb/page/3 3]| isbn=978-0-7735-0310-6| url=https://archive.org/details/rideauhallillust00hubb/page/3}}</ref> Locals referred to the structure as ''McKay's Castle''.<ref name=CPAC/>

Even before the building became a viceregal residence, the hall received noted visitors, including three governors general of the [[Province of Canada]]: [[Charles Poulett Thomson, 1st Baron Sydenham|the Lord Sydenham]], [[James Bruce, 8th Earl of Elgin|the Earl of Elgin]], and [[Edmund Walker Head|Sir Edmund Head]]. It was said that the watercolours of Barrack Hill (now [[Parliament Hill]]) painted by the latter governor's wife, Lady Head, while she was visiting Rideau Hall, had influenced [[Queen Victoria]] to choose [[Bytown]] (now Ottawa) as the national capital. Also, on 2 September 1860, the day after he laid the [[cornerstone]] of the parliament buildings, Prince Edward, Prince of Wales (later King [[Edward VII]]), drove through the grounds of Rideau Hall as part of his tour of the region.<ref>{{Harvnb| Hubbard| 1977| pp=8–9}}</ref>

===Viceregal home===
[[File:Fancy ball given by the Governor General Lord Dufferin at Rideau Hall on February 23, 1876 Bal costumé donné par le gouverneur général lord Dufferin à Rideau Hall, le 23 février 1876 (8050986967).jpg|thumb|Costume ball at Rideau Hall, hosted by Governor General [[Frederick Hamilton-Temple-Blackwood, 1st Marquess of Dufferin and Ava|Lord Dufferin]] at Rideau Hall, 1876]]
After Bytown was chosen as the capital of the Province of Canada, a design competition was launched in 1859 for a new parliamentary campus. The Centre Block, departmental buildings, and a residence for the governor general were each awarded separately. The winning scheme for Government House was a [[Second Empire architecture in the United States and Canada|Second Empire]] design by Toronto architects [[Frederick William Cumberland|Cumberland]] & [[William George Storm|Storm]]. However, it was never built, owing to cost overruns on the construction of the parliament buildings.<ref>{{cite book| last=Young| first=Carolyn A.| title=The Glory of Ottawa: Canada's First Parliament Buildings| date=1995| location=Montreal & Kingston| publisher=McGill-Queen's University Press| pages=[https://archive.org/details/gloryofottawacan1995youn/page/62 62–65]| isbn=978-0-7735-1227-6| url=https://archive.org/details/gloryofottawacan1995youn/page/62}}</ref>

In 1864, Rideau Hall was leased by the Crown from the McKay family for $4,000 per year and was intended to serve only as a temporary home for the [[viceroy]] until a proper government house could be constructed. The next year, [[Frederick Preston Rubidge]] oversaw the refinishing of the original villa and designed additions to accommodate the new functions.<ref name=Whitham>{{cite DCB |url=http://www.biographi.ca/en/bio/rubidge_frederick_preston_12E.html |last=Whitham |first=John |title=Rubidge, Frederick Preston |volume=12}}</ref><ref name=Rubidge>{{Citation| contribution=Rubidge, Frederick Preston| title=Biographical Dictionary of Architects in Canada| url=http://www.dictionaryofarchitectsincanada.org/architects/view/1419| publisher=Griscti, Verity; Hull, Joshua| accessdate=14 November 2011| archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131214070011/http://www.dictionaryofarchitectsincanada.org/architects/view/1419| archive-date=14 December 2013| url-status=dead}}</ref> It was enlarged to three or four times the original size, mostly by way of a new 49-room wing,<ref name=Whitham/> and, once complete, the first Governor General of Canada, [[Charles Monck, 4th Viscount Monck|the Viscount Monck]], took residence. These additions were opposed by [[George Brown (Canadian politician)|George Brown]],<ref>{{Cite encyclopedia |url=https://www.thecanadianencyclopedia.ca/en/article/george-brown |title=George Brown |first1=James |last1=Maurice |first2=Stockford |last2=Careless |others=Updated by Katrine Raymond |date=10 April 2015 |encyclopedia=The Canadian Encyclopedia |edition=online |accessdate=19 November 2018 |archive-date=19 November 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181119214552/https://www.thecanadianencyclopedia.ca/en/article/george-brown |url-status=live }}</ref> who claimed that "the governor general's residence is a miserable little house, and the grounds those of an ambitious country squire." Prime Minister [[John A. Macdonald]] agreed, complaining that more had been spent on patching up Rideau Hall than could have been used to construct a new royal palace. Nonetheless, the gatehouse was enhanced by Rubidge and the entire property purchased outright in 1868 for the sum of $82,000.<ref name=Rubidge/><ref>{{cite book| last=Pound| first=Richard W.| title=Fitzhenry and Whiteside Book of Canadian Facts and Dates| publisher=Fitzhenry and Whiteside| year=2005}}</ref>

Thereafter, the house became the social centre of Ottawa—even Canada—hosting foreign visitors (the first being [[Grand Duke Alexei Alexandrovich of Russia|Grand Duke Alexis]], son of Emperor [[Alexander II of Russia]]), investitures, swearing-in ceremonies, balls, dinners, garden parties, children's parties, and theatrical productions in the ballroom (initiated by [[Frederick Hamilton-Temple-Blackwood, 1st Marquess of Dufferin and Ava|the Earl]] and [[Hariot Hamilton-Temple-Blackwood, Marchioness of Dufferin and Ava|Countess of Dufferin]]), in which members of the household and viceregal family would participate.<ref name=CPAC/><ref name=Hubbard /> Probably the largest event held in the ballroom was a fancy dress ball hosted by the Dufferins on the evening of 23 February 1876, which approximately 1,500 guests attended.<ref>{{citation| editor=Office of the Secretary to the Governor General| title=A Visit to Rideau Hall: Teacher's Guide| url=http://www.gg.ca/visitus/pdf/tKit_e.pdf| archive-url=https://wayback.archive-it.org/all/20071202091844/http://www.gg.ca/visitus/pdf/tKit_e.pdf| url-status=dead| archive-date=2 December 2007| location=Ottawa| year=2002| publisher=Queen's Printer for Canada| page=18}}</ref><ref>{{cite book| last1=Banks| first1=Margaret A.| year=2001| title=Sir John George Bourinot, Victorian Canadian: His Life, Times, and Legacy| url=https://archive.org/details/sirjohngeorgebou0000bank| url-access=registration| publisher=McGill-Queen's Press| page=[https://archive.org/details/sirjohngeorgebou0000bank/page/186 186]| isbn= 9780773521919}}</ref>
[[File:Views of Ottawa 18.png|thumb|left|Rideau Hall from the southeast in 1884]]
Still, despite the popularity of the events that took place in the building, negative first impressions of Rideau Hall itself were a theme until the early part of the 20th century. Upon arrival there in 1872, the Countess of Dufferin said in her journal: "We have been so very enthusiastic about everything hitherto that the first sight of Rideau Hall did lower our spirits just a little!"<ref>{{citation| last=Hamilton-Temple-Blackwood| first=Hariot| author-link=Hariot Hamilton-Temple-Blackwood, Marchioness of Dufferin and Ava| journal=My Canadian Journal, 1872–78| title=Extracts from my letters home| date=27 June 1872| asin=B0007AEX2E}}</ref> In 1893, Lady Stanley, wife of Governor General [[Frederick Stanley, 16th Earl of Derby|the Lord Stanley of Preston]], said "you will find the furniture in the rooms very old-fashioned & not very pretty [...] The red drawing room [...] had no furniture except chairs & tables [...] The walls are absolutely bare [...] The room which has always been the wife of the G.G.'s sitting room is very empty [...] There are no lamps in the house at all. No cushions, no table cloths, in fact none of the small things that make a room pretty & comfortable."<ref>{{Cite journal| last=Villiers| first=Constance| title=Lady Derby to Lady Aberdeen| journal=Aberdeen Papers| date=22 May 1893}}</ref> Echoing these earlier comments, [[Ishbel Hamilton-Gordon, Marchioness of Aberdeen and Temair|the Marchioness of Aberdeen and Temair]] said upon her departure from Ottawa that Rideau Hall was a "shabby old Government House put away amongst its clump of bushes [...]"<ref>{{cite book |doi=10.3138/9781442618015 |title=The Canadian Journal of Lady Aberdeen, 1893-1898 |year=2013 |last1=Hamilton-Gordon |first1=Ishbel |author-link1=Ishbel Hamilton-Gordon, Marchioness of Aberdeen and Temair |pages=478, 479 |orig-date=19 November 1898 |isbn=978-1-4426-1801-5 |publisher=The Champlain Society |editor-last1=Saywell |editor-first1=John T.}}</ref>
[[File:May Day group at Rideau Hall, Ottawa, Ontario.jpg|thumb|A [[May Day]] garden party at Rideau Hall, 1898]]

Various improvements were undertaken over the decades, seeing the first gas chandeliers and a telegraph wire put in, as well as the construction of the ballroom in the same year. By the time Rideau Hall was to live up to its role as a royal home, when its first royal residents—[[John Campbell, 9th Duke of Argyll|John Campbell, Marquess of Lorne]], and his wife, [[Princess Louise, Duchess of Argyll|Princess Louise]]<ref>{{Cite encyclopedia |url=https://www.thecanadianencyclopedia.ca/en/article/princess-louise |title=Princess Louise |first=Carolyn |last=Harris |date=17 October 2016 |encyclopedia=The Canadian Encyclopedia |edition=online |accessdate=19 November 2018 |archive-date=20 November 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181120015113/https://www.thecanadianencyclopedia.ca/en/article/princess-louise |url-status=live }}</ref>—moved in at the beginning of 1878, many upgrades had been completed. Lorne stated of the hall: "Here we are settling down in this big and comfortable House{{sic}}, which I tell Louise is much superior to [[Kensington Palace|Kensington]], for the walls are thick, the rooms are [[lath]]ed and [[plaster]]ed (which they are not at Kensington) and there is an abundant supply of heat and light."<ref>{{Cite book| last=Campbell| first=John| author-link=John Campbell, 9th Duke of Argyll| title=Lorne to Duke of Argyle| editor-last=MacNutt| editor-first=W. Stewart| periodical=Days of Lorne| pages=242| location=Fredericton| year=1955}}</ref> The princess was not long in Rideau Hall before [[Fenian]]s posed themselves as a threat to her life and she was ushered back to the UK for both rest and protection. When she returned in 1880, with the Queen greatly concerned for her daughter's safety, it was felt necessary to post extra guards around the grounds of the hall.<ref>{{Harvnb| Hubbard| 1977| p=57}}</ref>
[[File:Princess Patricia 2.jpg|thumb|[[Princess Patricia of Connaught]] and Major Worthington at Rideau Hall's skating rink, 1914]]
Thereafter, members of the royal family would stay periodically at Rideau Hall, if not as governor general then as guests of 
the Crown, so that the palace played host to [[Prince Leopold, Duke of Albany|Prince Leopold]] (later also Duke of Albany) in 1880; [[George V|Prince George]] (later King George V) in 1882, 1901, and 1908; [[Prince Arthur, Duke of Connaught and Strathearn|Prince Arthur, Duke of Connaught]],<ref>{{Cite web | url=https://www.britannica.com/biography/Arthur-William-Patrick-Albert-duke-of-Connaught-and-Strathearn | title=Arthur William Patrick Albert, duke of Connaught and Strathearn &#124; British military officer | accessdate=19 November 2018 | archive-date=19 November 2018 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181119215110/https://www.britannica.com/biography/Arthur-William-Patrick-Albert-duke-of-Connaught-and-Strathearn | url-status=live }}</ref> and [[Princess Louise Margaret, Duchess of Connaught|Princess Louise, Duchess of Connaught]] (later also the Duke and Duchess of Strathearn), in 1890 and as the viceregal couple from 1906 to 1912; [[Princess Marie Louise of Schleswig-Holstein|Princess Louise]] in 1900; [[Princess Patricia of Connaught|Princess Patricia]] with her parents from 1906 to 1912; [[George VI|Prince Albert]] (later King George VI) in 1910 and 1913; [[Edward VIII|Edward, Prince of Wales]] (later King Edward VIII), in 1919, 1923, 1924, and 1927; [[Prince George, Duke of Kent|Prince George]] (later also Duke of Kent) in 1926 and 1927; and [[Prince Henry, Duke of Gloucester]], in 1929.

A member of the royal family, [[Alastair Windsor, 2nd Duke of Connaught and Strathearn|the Duke of Connaught and Strathearn]] (grandson of Prince Arthur, Duke of Connaught and Strathearn), lost his life on the grounds of Rideau Hall. [[Theo Aronson]], in his 1981 biography of [[Princess Alice, Countess of Athlone]], simply stated that the Duke "was found dead on the floor of his room at Rideau Hall on the morning of 26 April 1943. He had died, apparently, from hypothermia."<ref>{{cite book|last1=Aronson|first1=Theo|title=Princess Alice, Countess of Athlone|date=1981|publisher=Cassell|location=London|isbn=978-0304307579|page=211}}</ref> The diaries of [[Alan Lascelles|Sir Alan Lascelles]], King George VI's private secretary, published in 2006, recorded that both the regiment and Athlone had rejected him as incompetent,<ref>{{cite book|last1=Lascelles|first1=Alan|last2=Hart-Davis|first2=Duff|author-link1=Alan Lascelles|title=King's counsellor: abdication and war: the diaries of Sir Alan Lascelles|date=2006|publisher=[[Weidenfeld & Nicolson]]|page=39|quote=[...] [T]he wretched young Duke of Connaught, whom his regiment (Greys) have had to get rid of, as he is wholly incompetent.}}</ref> and he fell out of a window when drunk and perished of [[hypothermia]] overnight.

===Second World War===
[[File:King George VI and Queen Elizabeth Rideau Hall.jpg|thumb|Left to right: [[Queen Elizabeth The Queen Mother|Queen Elizabeth]], King [[George VI]], Governor General [[John Buchan|the Lord Tweedsmuir]], and [[Susan Buchan, Baroness Tweedsmuir|the Lady Tweedsmuir]] at Rideau Hall on 20 May 1939]]

When King George VI and his [[List of Canadian monarchs#List of royal consorts of Canada|consort]], [[Queen Elizabeth The Queen Mother|Queen Elizabeth]], arrived at Rideau Hall on 19 May 1939,<ref>{{Cite web| url=https://www.express.co.uk/news/royal/1023145/the-queen-news-queen-canada-Rideau-Hall-pictures| title=Inside the Queen's official residence in Canada: How beloved hall feels like home| date=2018-09-26| accessdate=19 November 2018| archive-date=19 November 2018| archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181119214509/https://www.express.co.uk/news/royal/1023145/the-queen-news-queen-canada-Rideau-Hall-pictures| url-status=live}}</ref> during their first [[Royal tours of Canada|royal tour of Canada]], official royal tour historian [[Gustave Lanctot]] stated: "When Their Majesties walked into their Canadian residence, the [[Statute of Westminster 1931|Statute of Westminster]] had assumed full reality: the King of Canada had come home."<ref name=Lanctot>{{cite book| last=Lanctot| first=Gustave| author-link=Gustave Lanctot| title=Royal Tour of King George VI and Queen Elizabeth in Canada and the United States of America 1939| publisher=E.P. Taylor Foundation| year=1964| location=Toronto| asin=B0006EB752}}</ref> The King, while there, became the first monarch of Canada to personally receive the credentials of an ambassador, that being [[Daniel Calhoun Roper]] as the [[United States Ambassador to Canada|representative of the United States]].<ref>{{cite journal| last=Galbraith| first=William| title=Fiftieth Anniversary of the 1939 Royal Visit| journal=Canadian Parliamentary Review| volume=12| issue=3| year=1989| url=http://www2.parl.gc.ca/Sites/LOP/Infoparl/english/issue.asp?param=130&art=820| archive-url=https://archive.today/20121205052132/http://www2.parl.gc.ca/Sites/LOP/Infoparl/english/issue.asp?param=130&art=820| url-status=dead| archive-date=5 December 2012| accessdate=20 February 2009}}</ref> It was thought for a time, after the outbreak of the [[World War II|Second World War]], that the King, Queen, and their two daughters—[[Elizabeth II|Princesses Elizabeth]] and [[Princess Margaret, Countess of Snowdon|Margaret]]—would move permanently to Canada for the duration of the conflict in Europe; though, [[Hatley Park National Historic Site|Hatley Castle]], in [[Colwood, British Columbia]], was purchased by the King in Right of Canada for this purpose, instead of using Rideau Hall.<ref>{{Cite speech |last=Campagnolo |first=Iona |author-link=Iona Campagnolo |website=Office of the Lieutenant Governor |title= Retired Heads of Mission Association's Gala Dinner |url=http://www.ltgov.bc.ca/whatsnew/sp/sp_may07_2004.htm |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070927000928/http://www.ltgov.bc.ca/whatsnew/sp/sp_may07_2004.htm |archive-date=2007-09-27 |accessdate=2013-08-24 |date=2004-05-07 |location=[[Royal Roads University]], Hatley Castle, Colwood, British Columbia}}</ref> However, it was decided that the royal family leaving the United Kingdom at a time of war would be a major blow to morale and they remained in Britain.

During the war, the palace became the home in exile of a number of royals displaced by the invasions of their respective countries back in Europe.<ref name=Hubbard201>{{Harvnb| Hubbard| 1977| p=201}}</ref> Among the royal guests were [[Olav V of Norway|Crown Prince Olav]] (later King Olav V) and [[Märtha of Sweden|Crown Princess Märtha]] of [[Norway]]; [[Charlotte, Grand Duchess of Luxembourg|Grand Duchess Charlotte]] and [[Prince Felix of Bourbon-Parma|Prince Felix]] of [[Luxembourg]]; King [[Peter II of Yugoslavia]]; King [[George II of Greece]]; [[Zita of Bourbon-Parma|Empress Zita]] of [[Austria]] and her daughters; as well as Queen [[Wilhelmina of the Netherlands]], her daughter, [[Juliana of the Netherlands|Princess Juliana]] (later Queen Juliana), and granddaughters, Princesses [[Beatrix of the Netherlands|Beatrix]] (later Queen Beatrix), [[Princess Irene of the Netherlands|Irene]], and [[Princess Margriet of the Netherlands|Margriet]]. Though the resident governor general's wife, [[Princess Alice, Countess of Athlone]], could do little to add her personal touch to Rideau Hall, due to rationing and scarce supplies, she put many of the other royal ladies to work making clothing for those who had lost their homes in [[the Blitz]].<ref name=Hubbard201/> It was then in 1940 that the governor general's office in the [[East Block]] of Parliament Hill was closed and moved to Rideau Hall.<ref>{{Harvnb| Office of the Secretary to the Governor General| 2002| p=1}}</ref> In December 1941, [[Winston Churchill]] arrived at the hall, where he presided over [[Cabinet of the United Kingdom|British Cabinet]] meetings via telephone from his bed.<ref>{{Harvnb| Hubbard| 1977| p=202}}</ref>

===Postwar and closed gates===
[[File:Queen Elizabeth and members of the federal government of Canada in Ottawa 1957-10-14.jpg|thumb|In the state dining room, Queen [[Elizabeth II]] (seated, centre) presides over a meeting of the [[Queen's Privy Council for Canada|Privy Council]], including [[Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh|Prince Philiip]] (to her left) and [[Prime Minister of Canada|Prime Minister]] [[John Diefenbaker]] (at her right)]]
At the end of the global war, the first peacetime ball at Rideau Hall was held for [[President of the United States]] [[Dwight D. Eisenhower]], after which life within the household returned to normal. The transition from war to peace was marked by the appointment as governor general of [[Harold Alexander, 1st Earl Alexander of Tunis|the Viscount Alexander]], whose son, Brian, reportedly used the portraits of former governors general throughout the hall as targets for his [[Water gun|water pistol]].<ref>{{Harvnb| Hubbard| 1977| p=212}}</ref> During Alexander's tenure, Government House's first post-war Canadian royal visitors were the heiress presumptive to the throne, Princess Elizabeth, Duchess of Edinburgh (later Queen Elizabeth II), and her husband, [[Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh|Philip, Duke of Edinburgh]], who came in late 1951 and, amongst other activities, took part in a [[square dance]] in the ballroom (replete with [[Tartan|checked]] shirts). Churchill, once again Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, returned to Rideau Hall in January of the next year, where, sprawled on a sofa with a cigar in one hand and a brandy in the other, he persuaded Alexander to join the British Cabinet.<ref>{{Harvnb| Hubbard| 1977| p=218}}</ref>

With the death of the King only a month following Churchill's 1952 visit, the front of Rideau Hall was covered with black [[Bunting (textile)|bunting]] as a sign of [[mourning]]. As one of his last acts as king of Canada, George VI appointed [[Vincent Massey]] as not only the first Canadian-born viceregal resident of his Canadian home, but also the first who was single, with Massey having been [[widowed]] two years prior to his installation; his daughter-in-law, Lilias, thus acted as [[Chatelaine of Rideau Hall]]. Massey spoke of Rideau Hall as "a piece of architecture that might be regarded as possessing a certain lovable eccentricity," in spite of "some of the most regrettable pieces of furniture I have ever seen."<ref>{{cite book| last=Massey| first=Vincent| author-link=Vincent Massey| title=What's Past is Prologue: the Memoirs of the Right Honourable Vincent Massey| publisher=Macmillan Co. of Canada Ltd.| year=1963| location=Toronto| page=462| asin=B000LBTDKG}}</ref>
[[File:Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II and her Canadian Ministers at Rideau Hall 1 July 1967.jpg|left|thumb|Elizabeth II with her Cabinet inside Rideau Hall, 1967]]
The number of formal occasions at Rideau Hall increased through the 1950s and 1960s, as Canada's diplomatic corps increased and the country gained greater international standing; visitors during Massey's tenure included Queen Juliana, President Eisenhower, Emperor [[Haile Selassie I of Ethiopia]], [[Jawaharlal Nehru]], and the presidents of [[Germany]], [[Italy]], and [[Indonesia]]. With the greater ease of travel, more members of [[Monarchy of Canada#Royal family and house|Canada's royal family]] visited as well, including the Queen Mother; [[Mary, Princess Royal and Countess of Harewood|Princess Mary, Princess Royal]]; [[Katharine, Duchess of Kent]]; Princess Margaret, Countess of Snowdon; Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh; and, in 1957, Elizabeth was again in residence, though for the first time as queen.<ref>{{Harvnb| Hubbard| 1977| pp=223–224}}</ref> It was during that stay that the Queen made her first-ever appearance on [[live television]]; from Rideau Hall, on 13 October ([[Thanksgiving (Canada)|Thanksgiving Day]]), she delivered an address to Canadians,<ref>{{cite web| url=https://archive.macleans.ca/article/1957/12/7/june-call-woods-story-of-the-queens-visit| title=June Calwood's Story of the Queen's Visit| magazine=Maclean's| publisher=Rogers Media| date=7 December 1957| accessdate=10 April 2020| archive-date=10 April 2020| archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200410231828/https://archive.macleans.ca/article/1957/12/7/june-call-woods-story-of-the-queens-visit| url-status=live}}</ref> aired on the [[Canadian Broadcasting Corporation]].<ref>{{cite web| url=https://www.cbc.ca/news/world/queen-elizabeth-a-timeline-1.902545| title=Queen Elizabeth: A Timeline| publisher=Canadian Broadcasting Corporation| date=20 March 2012| accessdate=10 April 2020| archive-date=18 March 2018| archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180318165056/http://www.cbc.ca/news/world/queen-elizabeth-a-timeline-1.902545| url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite web| url=https://www.cbc.ca/player/play/2675002147| title=Queen Elizabeth's 1st TV Speech| publisher=Canadian Broadcasting Corporation| date=2015| accessdate=10 April 2020| archive-date=27 May 2022| archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220527200747/https://www.cbc.ca/player/play/2675002147| url-status=live}}</ref> The Queen also stayed in her Ottawa government house and held audience with an influx of 53 foreign heads of state and government during [[Expo 67]], held in Montreal, and [[Canadian Centennial|Canada's centennial celebrations]].

During the [[October Crisis]] in 1970, Rideau Hall was heavily guarded for a number of weeks, due to the threat from the ''[[Front de libération du Québec]]'', who had planted bombs and conducted kidnappings in Quebec during the crisis.<ref>{{Harvnb| Hubbard| 1977| p=241}}</ref> 
[[File:Jeanne Sauvé 1985.jpg|thumb|Governor General [[Jeanne Sauvé]] hosting a garden party outside Rideau Hall in 1985]]

The relatively free access to the grounds, which had been traditionally allowed since 1921 and enjoyed by tourists and local neighbours alike, ceased during [[Jeanne Sauvé]]'s time as governor general from 1984 to 1990; access was granted only through invitation, appointment, or pre-arranged tours on certain days. The decision to do so was based on concerns expressed by the [[Royal Canadian Mounted Police]] and the [[National Capital Commission]] for the security of the vicereine and brought Rideau Hall in line with other official residences, including [[24 Sussex Drive]] and Buckingham Palace, that did not allow public access. However, Sauvé was reported to have also been personally concerned for her safety, saying: "I'm worried about those crazy men out there."

This caused controversy not only because Sauvé had contradicted her earlier statement about Rideau Hall, wherein she said: "oh yes, definitely, it has to be open," but also because it denied Ottawa residents the use of the grounds. One group formed under the name ''Canada Unlock the Gate Group'' and asserted the closure was more due to Sauvé's selfish desire for privacy than any real security risks; ''[[The Globe and Mail]]'' reported in 1986 that the group planned to boycott the Governor General's annual garden party because of what they called her "bunker mentality". Sauvé's successor, [[Ray Hnatyshyn]], reopened Government House and its gardens to the public.<ref>{{cite web| url=http://archives.cbc.ca/IDC-1-73-1593-10929/politics_economy/jeanne_sauve/clip9| title=Jeanne Sauvé, a Woman of Firsts > Closing off Rideau Hall| publisher=CBC| accessdate=21 February 2009| archive-date=23 January 2008| archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080123085910/http://archives.cbc.ca/IDC-1-73-1593-10929/politics_economy/jeanne_sauve/clip9| url-status=live}}</ref> Sauvé also entertained a plan suggested by management consultants [[Price Waterhouse]] to move from Rideau Hall into [[Rideau Cottage]], both for privacy and cost savings.<ref>{{cite news| url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=2194&dat=19851216&id=4qYyAAAAIBAJ&sjid=j-8FAAAAIBAJ&pg=6549,2868120&hl=en| last=Cameron| first=Stevie| title=Government House dilemma: when is a house not a home?| date=16 December 1985| newspaper=Ottawa Citizen| page=A1| accessdate=9 December 2015| archive-date=11 December 2015| archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151211162147/https://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=2194&dat=19851216&id=4qYyAAAAIBAJ&sjid=j-8FAAAAIBAJ&pg=6549,2868120&hl=en| url-status=live}}</ref>

===21st century===
[[File:Swearing-In Day Trudeau Cabinet.jpg|thumb|Governor General [[David Johnston (governor general)|David Johnston]] with the newly sworn-in [[Cabinet of Canada|Cabinet]] in the ballroom of Rideau Hall, 4 November 2015]]

[[Julie Payette]] did not take up residence in Rideau Hall during her tenure since, at the time of her appointment in October 2017, renovations that are part of a long-term plan toward 2067 were underway. In particular, the private apartments of the palace were being altered to provide a "sense of privacy and intimacy". Payette instead moved into [[7 Rideau Gate]], the residence, immediately outside the main entrance to the Rideau Hall grounds, normally reserved for dignitaries on official visits to Canada. Though the alterations to the viceregal family suite were complete by March 2018, further renovations to improve accessibility began immediately after. There was an intent for Payette to move to Rideau Hall in the summer of 2019, but she spent the summer at the [[Citadelle of Quebec]].<ref>{{citation| url=https://www.cbc.ca/news/politics/payette-rideau-hall-move-1.5192368| last=Tunney| first=Catharine| title=Gov. Gen. Payette won't be moving into Rideau Hall for now| date=3 July 2019| publisher=CBC News| accessdate=11 July 2020| archive-date=21 July 2020| archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200721232854/https://www.cbc.ca/news/politics/payette-rideau-hall-move-1.5192368| url-status=live}}</ref>
[[File:Abdulkadir Jailani and Julie Payette.jpg|thumb|Governor General [[Julie Payette]] and Abdul Jailani, ambassador-designate of Indonesia during a presentation of credentials ceremony at Rideau Hall, 2019]]
The grounds were again closed through much of 2020 due to the [[COVID-19 pandemic]]. During that period, on 2 July, a former Canadian soldier and businessman from [[Bowsman, Manitoba]], drove his truck through Thomas Gate, a pedestrian entrance in the fence surrounding the park. He continued in his vehicle approximately 120 metres along the path beyond before proceeding further on foot, hiding in the rose garden for a few minutes and then moving on towards the greenhouses behind Rideau Hall itself. Groundskeepers noticed the intruder and the Royal Canadian Mounted Police were eventually called. The man, who the police noted was armed, was arrested without incident. Neither the Governor General nor the Prime Minister, who is using Rideau Cottage as a temporary residence while 24 Sussex Drive is under renovation, were on the Rideau Hall property at the time.<ref>{{cite web| url=https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/ottawa/rideau-hall-intruder-latest-1.5636011| last=Glowacki| first=Laura| title=What we know so far about the Rideau Hall intruder| date=3 July 2020| publisher=CBC News| accessdate=11 July 2020| archive-date=14 July 2020| archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200714135646/https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/ottawa/rideau-hall-intruder-latest-1.5636011| url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite web| url=https://ottawacitizen.com/news/local-news/rideau-hall-intruder-had-several-weapons-charges-pending-rcmp| last=Blewett| first=Taylor| title=Rideau Hall intruder faces 22 criminal charges including possession of a loaded weapon| date=4 July 2020| publisher=Ottawa Citizen| accessdate=11 July 2020| archive-date=11 July 2020| archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200711131103/https://ottawacitizen.com/news/local-news/rideau-hall-intruder-had-several-weapons-charges-pending-rcmp| url-status=live}}</ref> According to a preliminary investigation by the RCMP, the man intended to have the Prime Minister "arrested" for recent policy decisions.<ref>{{cite news |last=Tunney |first=Catharine |title=Rideau Hall intruder wanted to have Trudeau arrested: RCMP investigation |url=https://www.cbc.ca/news/politics/hurren-rideau-hall-arrest-1.5866297 |date=9 January 2021 |work=[[CBC News]] |accessdate=26 January 2021 |archive-date=25 January 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210125171321/https://www.cbc.ca/news/politics/hurren-rideau-hall-arrest-1.5866297 |url-status=live }}</ref>

==Function==
[[File:The Prime Minister, Shri Narendra Modi meeting the Governor General of Canada, the Right Honourable David Johnston, at Ottawa, Canada on April 15, 2015 (2).jpg|thumb|Governor General [[David Johnston (governor general)|David Johnston]] holds an audience with [[Prime Minister of India]] [[Narendra Modi]] in Rideau Hall's large drawing room, 15 April 2015]]

Rideau Hall's main purpose is to house the governor general of Canada and his or her offices,<ref name=NCCvis>{{cite web| url=http://www.ncc-ccn.gc.ca/places-to-visit/official-residences/visitor-information| author=National Capital Commission| title=Visitor Information| publisher=Queen's Printer for Canada| accessdate=2 November 2015| archive-date=17 October 2015| archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151017231639/http://www.ncc-ccn.gc.ca/places-to-visit/official-residences/visitor-information| url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite news| url=http://www.cbc.ca/news/politics/liberal-government-trudeau-cabinet-1.3296712| title=Rideau Hall grounds open to public for Justin Trudeau's swearing-in 4 Nov.| date=31 October 2015| publisher=CBC| accessdate=1 November 2015| archive-date=31 October 2015| archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151031150444/http://www.cbc.ca/news/politics/liberal-government-trudeau-cabinet-1.3296712| url-status=live}}</ref> including the [[Canadian Heraldic Authority]]. It is also the residence of Canada's monarch when he is in Ottawa.<ref name=MacLeod34>{{citation| url=https://publications.gc.ca/collections/collection_2015/pc-ch/CH4-129-2015-eng.pdf| title=A Crown of Maples: Constitutional Monarchy in Canada| last=Department of Canadian Heritage| year=2015| location=Ottawa| publisher=Her Majesty the Queen in Right of Canada| page=34| isbn=978-1-100-20079-8| accessdate=14 February 2023}}</ref><ref name=AV>{{cite AV media| people=[[Elizabeth II]]| date=1 July 1959| title=The Canadian Queen's Dominion Day Message 1959| language=en, fr| url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Issv75Vaqzo| accessdate=26 March 2023| format=Video| location=Ottawa| publisher=Canadian Broadcasting Corporation| quote="Her Majesty the Queen is spending the holiday with Prince Philip at her Canadian home: Government House in Ottawa." "The last time I spoke to you from this, my home in Ottawa [...]"}}</ref><ref name=Lanctot/> and has a royal and viceregal household to support the sovereign and governor general, comprising a [[maître d’hôtel]], [[chef]]s, [[footmen]], [[valets]], dressers, [[Page (servant)|pages]], aides-de-camp (drawn from the junior officers of the [[Canadian Armed Forces]]), [[equerries]], and others.<ref name=OttawaCit>{{citation| url=https://ottawacitizen.com/news/local-news/rideau-hall-staff-recall-encounters-with-royalty| last=Laucius| first=Joanne| title=The Queen and I: Rideau Hall staff recall royal encounters| date=16 September 2022| newspaper=Ottawa Citizen| accessdate=24 October 2023}}</ref>

The majority of Rideau Hall's area is dedicated to affairs of state; only 500 m<sup>2</sup> (5,400&nbsp;sq ft) of the total 9,500 m<sup>2</sup> (102,000&nbsp;sq ft) given to private living quarters.<ref name=LeBlanc>{{cite web| url= http://www.icomos.org/~fleblanc/projects/1992-2001_NCC/p_ncc_rideau-hall_e.html| title= Conservation Architect > Restoration work at Rideau Hall, the Official Residence of the Governor General of Canada| publisher= Francois Leblanc| accessdate= 20 February 2009| archive-date= 21 November 2008| archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20081121010654/http://www.icomos.org/~fleblanc/projects/1992-2001_NCC/p_ncc_rideau-hall_e.html| url-status= live}}</ref> Some 200 events are held at Rideau Hall every year,<ref name=CPAC/> most being [[Orders, decorations, and medals of Canada|Canadian award]] presentations and investitures. In this way, the palace is where [[Prime Minister of Canada|prime ministers]] and other members of the [[Cabinet of Canada|federal Cabinet]] are sworn-in and federal [[Writ of election|writs of election]] are dropped, among other constitutional functions of the governor general. [[Head of state|Heads of state]] and [[Head of government|government]], both incoming and outgoing [[ambassador]]s and [[high commissioner]]s to Canada, and Canadian [[Minister of the Crown|Crown ministers]] and [[loyal opposition]] leaders are received at Rideau Hall for [[Audience (meeting)|audiences]] with either the viceroy or the sovereign,<ref>{{cite news| url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/picturegalleries/royalty/7862993/The-Queen-tours-Canada-and-celebrates-the-centenary-of-the-Canadian-Navy.html?image=15| title=The Queen tours Canada and celebrates the centenary of the Canadian Navy| newspaper=The Telegraph| accessdate=2 November 2015| archive-date=5 January 2016| archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160105160848/http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/picturegalleries/royalty/7862993/The-Queen-tours-Canada-and-celebrates-the-centenary-of-the-Canadian-Navy.html?image=15| url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite news| url=https://www.thestar.com/news/world/2010/07/02/hume_queen_elizabeth_meets_michael_ignatieff_on_her_day_off.html| last=Hume| first=Michael| title=Queen Elizabeth meets Michael Ignatieff on her 'day off'| date=2 July 2010| newspaper=Toronto Star| accessdate=2 November 2015| archive-date=5 February 2021| archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210205035126/https://www.thestar.com/news/world/2010/07/02/hume_queen_elizabeth_meets_michael_ignatieff_on_her_day_off.html| url-status=live}}</ref> should the latter be in residence.

Although there is a state dining room in Rideau Hall, state dinners and luncheons are usually held in the larger ballroom or tent room. In setting up for a formal meal, a measuring stick is used to set the [[tableware]] and locate the charis relative to the tables uniformly.<ref name=OttawaCit/> The ingredients and wines are "100 per cent Canadian [...] reflecting Canada's many cultures."<ref name=OttawaCit/>

The residence is also open to the public, running a visitors' program and free tours of the state rooms throughout the year,<ref>{{cite web| url=http://www.gg.ca/document.aspx?id=15029&lan=eng| last=Office of the Governor General of Canada| title=Tour Schedule| publisher=Queen's Printer for Canada| accessdate=16 January 2015| archive-date=4 January 2015| archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150104113603/http://www.gg.ca/document.aspx?id=15029&lan=eng| url-status=live}}</ref> as well as educational tours for students;<ref>{{cite web| url=http://www.gg.ca/document.aspx?id=14749&lan=eng| last=Office of the Governor General of Canada| title=Eduzone > On Site > Rideau Hall in Ottawa| publisher=Queen's Printer for Canada| accessdate=16 January 2015| archive-date=4 January 2015| archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150104091431/http://www.gg.ca/document.aspx?id=14749&lan=eng| url-status=live}}</ref> it is the only one of the six official residences in the [[National Capital Region (Canada)|National Capital Region]] that is publicly accessible.<ref name=NCCvis/> A visitors' centre is on the grounds, adjacent to the main gate.<ref>{{cite web| url=http://www.gg.ca/document.aspx?id=15589&lan=eng| last=Office of the Governor General of Canada| title=Visitor Centre| publisher=Queen's Printer for Canada| accessdate=16 January 2015| archive-date=28 November 2014| archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141128233520/http://www.gg.ca/document.aspx?id=15589&lan=eng| url-status=live}}</ref> Rideau Hall takes part annually in [[Doors Open Ottawa]] and children may trick-or-treat at the house each [[Hallowe'en]].<ref>{{cite web| url=http://www.gg.ca/document.aspx?id=15123&lan=eng| last=Office of the Governor General of Canada| title=Seasonal Activities| publisher=Queen's Printer for Canada| accessdate=16 January 2015| archive-date=4 January 2015| archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150104113615/http://www.gg.ca/document.aspx?id=15123&lan=eng| url-status=live}}</ref>

==Architecture==
[[File:RHplan.jpg|thumb|upright=1.2|Floor plan of the main level of Rideau Hall, showing the various accretions onto the original McKay villa]]

The original 1838 structure was relatively small; only two storeys tall with a full-height, central, curved bay, and an accordingly curved [[pediment]] on top, the villa was designed by Thomas McKay (who had also designed and built [[Earnscliffe]]<ref name=LAC/>) in a [[Regency architecture|Regency style]], inspired by the work of architect Sir [[John Soane]], who had himself designed a never-realised government house for the then capital of Upper Canada, [[York, Upper Canada|York]], in 1818.<ref>{{Harvnb| Hubbard| 1977| p=5}}</ref> Unlike the present arrangement, the rooms of the McKay villa for entertaining, sleeping, and service were dispersed throughout the two floors of the structure, with the main parlour on the second level, in an oval room behind the curved, south bay, which National Capital Commission Chief Architect David Scarlett said in 2014 was made in such a shape so as to display the advanced abilities of McKay's stonemasons.<ref name=CPAC/> The main entrance to the house was on the west side and opened into a hall with stairs to the upper floor directly ahead. Along the south front were a library, a dining room, and a boudoir, all with [[Door#Design and styles|French doors]] opening onto a narrow [[balcony]]; the dining room was served by three of these doors, one of which now opens into the tent room's antechamber, one into the long gallery, and one that still opens to the outside. The French door originally opening from the boudoir is today the window of the Pauline Vanier room.
{{multiple image
| align       =left
| total_width =260
| image_style =border:1;
| direction =vertical
| image1      =DSC01977 - Back Garden (44804311661).jpg
| caption1    =The Monck wing in 2018; the verandah was removed between 1911 and 1939
| image2      =Abbot's Guide to Ottawa Page37.png
| caption2    =A 1911 image showing the Monck wing (left), the Grey addition (centre right), with the [[Bow window|bowed]] front for the governor general's study, and the Minto wing (far right)
}}

Initially rented from the McKay family as a temporary accommodation for the Canadian viceroy, the house has since been expanded numerous times. The Viscount Monck oversaw the first addition to the villa in 1865: a long wing extending to the east and built in a style that, while attempting to be harmonious with the original, was intended to resemble the governor general's residence in Quebec, [[Government House (Quebec)|Spencer Wood]], which Monck greatly preferred over Rideau Hall. The extension was thus done in an overall [[Norman architecture|Norman style]] of design that was typical in Quebec at the time, and had a similar long, covered [[verandah]],<ref name=GGRH/> a cross hall, and a new staircase capped by an ornate [[stained glass]] [[Cupola|lantern]]. The exterior walls were clad in ashlar limestone masonry and the roof in cedar shingles until replaced by copper in 1913.<ref name=CPAC2>{{cite AV media| people=Christie-Luff, Catherine; Clark, Catherine| title=Rideau Hall: David Scarlett| medium=Digital video| publisher=CPAC| location=Ottawa| date=2014| url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O_Xaj1x-TZU&list=PLdgoQ6C3ckQtjYCNZY7gjK-8jErUqOhZp |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/varchive/youtube/20211212/O_Xaj1x-TZU| archive-date=2021-12-12 |url-status=live}}{{cbignore}}</ref>

In 1872, during the tenure of the Earl of Dufferin, the indoor [[Tennis]] Court and the ballroom were added to the western end of the house, arranged to the south and north, respectively, of the main entrance. The ballroom is a structure of heavy [[timber framing]] with brick infill and finished stone exterior.<ref name=CPAC2/> Then, when [[Gilbert Elliot-Murray-Kynynmound, 4th Earl of Minto|the Earl of Minto]] arrived in 1898 with his large family and household, the Minto wing was constructed on the east end of Rideau Hall and was completed in the following year, though this was again intended to only be a temporary measure until a proper government house could be built.<ref>{{Harvnb| Hubbard| 1977| p=96}}</ref> Minto's successor, [[Albert Grey, 4th Earl Grey|the Earl Grey]], added the governor general's study to the far east end of the Monck wing, thus symmetrically balancing out the curved bay and pediment of the original McKay villa to the west.
{{multiple image
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| align       =right
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| image1      =3621 Mapping pre 1913.jpg
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| footer      =Images of the west façade of Rideau Hall before (above) and after (below) the addition of the Mappin block in 1914.
}}

One of the greatest alterations to the form of Rideau Hall came in 1913, with the construction of the Mappin block as a link between the ballroom and what was then the tennis court (today the tent room), as well as to disguise the misalignment between those two structures.<ref name=travel>{{citation| url=https://troymedia.com/in-the-news/rideau-hall-mansion-fit-queen/| author=Travel Like This| title=A mansion fit for a queen| date=10 November 2018| publisher=Troy Media| accessdate=14 February 2023}}</ref> As such, Chief Dominion Architect [[David Ewart]] designed the Mappin block in an "adapted [[Florence|Florentine architectural style]]",<ref>{{Harvnb| Hubbard| 1977| p=135}}</ref> using [[limestone]] [[ashlar]], and extended that over the flanking wings by re-facing them and harmonizing their window and [[cornice]] heights.

The Mappin block itself is three storeys in height, and its front is divided by [[pilaster]]s into five [[Bay (architecture)|bays]], with the central one slightly wider than the equal other four. The windows on the main floor are each surrounded by smaller pilasters beneath a triangular pediment formed by [[keel molding|keel moulding]] [[geison]]s, while the second level windows are each simply framed by [[astragal]] moulding broken at the top by a [[Keystone (architecture)|keystone]]. A heavy [[entablature]] separates the second and third levels, atop which sits less pronounced pilasters and simply framed windows, with the entire façade capped by a narrow cornice and a pediment with a [[Tympanum (architecture)|tympanum]] that bears a [[bas relief]] of the [[Royal coat of arms of the United Kingdom|Royal Arms of the United Kingdom]] (believed to be the largest rendition in the [[Commonwealth of Nations|Commonwealth]]<ref name=NCC/>).
{{multiple image
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| image1      = DSC01912 - Rideau Hal (30933109088).jpg
| image2      = Rideau Hall 35.jpg
| image3      = Rideau Hall 33.jpg
| footer      = (Clockwise from top) the porte-cochère of the Queen's Entrance, seen behind; the escutcheon of the Arms of Canada in 1868 as carved into a stone atop the porte-cochère; the chandelier light fixture and herringbone brickwork in the porte-cochère's vault
}}

Rideau Hall's main entrance is part of the Mappin block. To honour Queen Elizabeth II, the doorway was, on 1 July 2017 (the [[150th anniversary of Canada|sesquicentennial of Confederation]], in the 65th year of Elizabeth's reign), named the ''Queen's Entrance''<ref>{{cite web| url=https://www.canada.ca/en/canadian-heritage/news/2017/06/itinerary_releasedforthe2017royaltourtocanada.html?=undefined&wbdisable=true| author=Government of Canada| title=Itinerary Released for the 2017 Royal Tour to Canada| date=19 June 2017| publisher=Queen's Printer for Canada| accessdate=23 June 2017| archive-date=9 August 2017| archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170809092124/https://www.canada.ca/en/canadian-heritage/news/2017/06/itinerary_releasedforthe2017royaltourtocanada.html?=undefined&wbdisable=true| url-status=live}}</ref> by Governor General [[David Johnston (governor general)|David Johnston]] in a ceremony attended by [[Charles III|Prince Charles]] and his wife, [[Queen Camilla|Camilla, Duchess of Cornwall]].<ref name=Johnston>{{citation| url=https://www.gg.ca/en/media/news/2017/inauguration-queens-entrance| last=Johnston| first=David| title=Inauguration of The Queen's Entrance| date=1 July 2017| publisher=King's Printer for Canada| accessdate=15 February 2023}}</ref> The [[bronze]] [[Grille (architecture)|grille]]s on the doors are formed into a geometric pattern meant to represent infrastructure associated with settlement, including the [[Canadian Pacific Railway]], while circular etching on the glass panels evokes indigenous cultures and the vertical lines echo paintings by [[Tom Thomson]].<ref name=Johnston/> The exterior handles are each fashioned from paired bronze dowels with elements, attached at top and bottom, formed from the same metal to appear as twigs. Inside, the push-plates, also of bronze, each have one of the [[supporter]]s from the Royal Coat of [[Arms of Canada]] carved into them. Affixed to the exterior wall next to the entrance is a plaque made of forged and carved bronze shaped to appear as seven short, vertical planks of driftwood joined by a horizontal scroll in polished brass, bearing the words ''The Queen's Entrance / Entrée de la reine'', under the crowned royal cypher of Elizabeth II. These pieces, along with the grilles, were made by artist and blacksmith Cairn Cunnane.<ref>{{citation| url=https://cairncunnane.ca/category/portfolio/architectonic/| last=Cunnane| first=Cairn| title=The Queen's Entrance: Door grilles, Ceremonial doors and handles, Rideau Hall, Governor General's| publisher=Cairn Cunnane| accessdate=15 February 2023}}</ref>

For formal arrivals at the main door, this addition also included a [[porte-cochère]] with three arched openings between columns resting on the foundations of posts that supported the McKay villa's porte-cochère.<ref name=CPAC2/> The centre opening is topped with a carved stone rendition of the shield of the [[Arms of Canada|Royal Arms of Canada]] as it appeared between 1868 and 1870. All the arches can be fitted during the winter with [[fanlight]]s and glass doors to provide an enclosed space in which to exit cars.

On the third floor of the Mappin block is the apartment for aides-de-camp. It is from the kitchen within that apartment that the flagpole can be reached via a ladder and an attic space.<ref name=OttawaCit/>

Further projects that were completed by 1914 were the enargement in 1912 of the state dining room and addition of the long gallery to the east of the tent room. Off the long gallery is the verandah, added in 1927. It is a simple, stucco-clad structure containing one room with large windows and [[French door]]s overlooking the upper terrace lawn in the corner between the Dufferin and Monck wings. Between the windows are half-round and flat classical pilasters. A set of stairs leads from the French doors to the upper terrace.<ref name=CTVRH>{{cite AV media| people=White, Mallory| date=29 February 2016| title=Residence Tour: A Behind the Scenes Look at Rideau Hall| medium=Video| language=en| url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qdesF4dqMtE |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/varchive/youtube/20211212/qdesF4dqMtE| archive-date=2021-12-12 |url-status=live| accessdate=11 July 2020| time=3:56| location=Ottawa| publisher=CTV News}}{{cbignore}}</ref>
[[File:Rideau Hall 30.jpg| thumb|The [[royal coat of arms of the United Kingdom]] [[Pedimental sculpture|carved into]] the [[Tympanum (architecture)|tympanum]] of the [[pediment]] atop the Mappin block in 1914, seven years before the creation of the Royal Coat of [[Arms of Canada]]. Evidence of the 2006-2007 restoration can be seen in the mismatched colouration of the stones in the [[hood mould]].]]

An [[Accessibility|accessible]] entrance—opened by [[Anne, Princess Royal]], and named after her—was added in 1982<ref>{{cite web| url=http://www.gg.ca/document.aspx?id=15853&lan=eng| author=Office of the Governor General of Canada| title=Official Dinner in Honour of Her Royal Highness The Princess Royal and Vice Admiral Sir Tim Laurence| date=10 November 2014| publisher=Queen's Printer for Canada| accessdate=23 November 2013| archive-date=28 November 2014| archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141128233802/http://www.gg.ca/document.aspx?id=15853&lan=eng| url-status=live}}</ref> and the Minto wing was eventually converted from residences to offices.<ref name=CPAC/> Then, at the prompting of Governor General [[Michaëlle Jean]],<ref name=CPAC/> the main façade of Rideau Hall underwent a major renovation through 2006<ref name=CPAC/> and 2007, overseen by the National Capital Commission, which has been responsible for the maintenance and upkeep of the building and its grounds since 1986.<ref>{{citation| url=https://ncc-ccn.gc.ca/places/official-residences| author=National Capital Commission| title=Canada's Official Residences| publisher=King's Printer for Canada| accessdate=31 May 2023}}</ref> Masonry was treated and restored, the original [[sash window]]s rehabilitated and stripped of their lead paint, and the copper roof of the Mappin wing was repaired. This was the first time any considerable work had been done on the front façade since the 1960s.<ref name=NCC/> A project began in 2012 to replace the building's [[HVAC control system|climate control system]]—consisting of three large external [[chiller]]s and multiple window-mounted [[air conditioners]]—with a [[geothermal heating]] and cooling system, expected to supply approximately half of the building's heating requirements during winter, until the geothermal system is expanded in future.<ref>{{cite news| url=https://ottawacitizen.com/technology/Rideau+Halls+goes+greener+with+geothermal+climate+control/7603148/story.html| archive-url=https://archive.today/20130131005746/http://www.ottawacitizen.com/technology/Rideau+Halls+goes+greener+with+geothermal+climate+control/7603148/story.html| url-status=dead| archive-date=31 January 2013| last=MacLeod| first=Ian| title=Rideau Halls goes greener with geothermal climate control| date=23 November 2012| newspaper=Ottawa Citizen| accessdate=24 November 2012}}</ref>

The hall was designated as a classified heritage property by the Federal Heritage Buildings Review Office in 1986, giving it the highest heritage significance in Canada.<ref>{{CRHP|4302|Rideau Hall}}</ref><ref name=ReferenceA/><ref name=NCC>{{cite web| url=http://www.capcan.ca/bins/ncc_web_content_page.asp?cid=16300-20466-46885&lang=1&bhcp=1| last=National Capital Commission| author-link=National Capital Commission| title=Rehabilitation Work at Rideau Hall – Front Façade of the Mappin Wing| publisher=Queen's Printer for Canada| accessdate=21 February 2009| url-status=dead| archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071007150855/http://www.capcan.ca/bins/ncc_web_content_page.asp?cid=16300-20466-46885&lang=1&bhcp=1| archive-date=7 October 2007}}</ref>

==Decor and furnishings==
Rideau Hall has long been a collection point for Canadian art and cabinetry. As early as the first viceregal inhabitants, the hall has held pieces by prominent Canadian cabinet makers, such as [[Jacques & Hay]] of [[Toronto]], [[James Thomson (cabinetmaker)|James Thomson]] of Montreal, and William Drum of Quebec.<ref>{{Harvnb| Hubbard| 1977| =12}}</ref> Originally, the interior decoration was heavily [[Victorian decorative arts|Victorian]], with many [[Rococo]] influences. Renovations, however, have turned the interiors into predominantly [[Georgian architecture|Georgian]] spaces, with [[Adam style|Adam]] and [[Palladian architecture|Palladian]] elements.<ref name=Hubbard14>{{Harvnb| Hubbard| 1977| p=14}}</ref> Until the 1960s, the contents and colours of the house changed with each successive royal and viceregal family; the consort typically seeing it as her duty to update Rideau Hall to suit both her personal and contemporary tastes.
[[File:DSC01966 - Long Gallery (44084478794).jpg|thumb|left|The long gallery features [[Chinoiserie]] decorations collected by the [[Marie Freeman-Thomas, Marchioness of Willingdon|Marchioness of Willingdon]]]]

Today the rooms are furnished both with elements from the history of the residence as well as art and other objects that showcase contemporary Canadian culture. The long gallery's [[Chinoiserie]] decoration was restored in 1993 at the direction of Gerda Hnatyshyn, wife of Governor General Ray Hnatyshyn, putting back much of the furniture and artifacts that had been collected by [[Marie Freeman-Thomas, Marchioness of Willingdon|the Machioness of Willingdon]] throughout her tour of [[China]] in 1926. The space, used to greet and host functions for ambassadors and high commissioners to Canada, now contains five carpets donated by the [[The Hongkong and Shanghai Banking Corporation|Hongkong and Shanghai Bank]] and a [[Steinway & Sons]] [[Piano|baby grand piano]] that belonged to [[Glenn Gould]].<ref name=CanHouse>{{cite book| last=MacMillan| first=Margaret| author2=Harris, Majorie| author3=Desjardins, Anne L.| title=Canada's House: Rideau Hall and the Invention of a Canadian Home| url=https://archive.org/details/canadashouseride0000macm| url-access=registration| publisher=Alfred A. Knopf Canada| year=2004| location=Toronto| isbn=978-0-676-97675-5}}</ref> Other consorts left their mark on Rideau Hall, such as Princess Louise's painted apple branches on a 6-panel Georgian door (into the room adjacent to the Pauline Vanier room) in the first-floor corridor and Nora Michener's donated collection of [[Inuit]] sculpture.<ref name=Mon/> Governor General [[Adrienne Clarkson]] and her husband, [[John Ralston Saul]], not only oversaw the extensive repainting of the state rooms from a consistent white to more historically accurate and polychrome palette,<ref name=CPAC/> but also worked with [[Ontario]] potter [[Bill Reddick (artist)|Bill Reddick]] to develop Rideau Hall's first Canadian porcelain state dinner service.<ref name=CFund>{{Cite journal| last=Canadiana Fund| title=The Maple Leaf Service| journal=In the Know| volume=1| page=3| year=2006| url=http://www.canadascapital.gc.ca/data/2/rec_docs/9455_CanFund_Newslet_06.pdf| accessdate=14 January 2010| archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110610155128/http://www.canadascapital.gc.ca/data/2/rec_docs/9455_CanFund_Newslet_06.pdf| archive-date=10 June 2011| url-status=dead}}</ref>

Since Vincent Massey's time as governor general, the viceroy has worked closely with the [[Public Works and Government Services Canada|Department of Public Works and Government Services]] in repairing and refurbishing Rideau Hall; the department now provides a more systematic approach to the maintenance of the palace, with a full-time building manager in charge of the project. The National Capital Commission is charged with the decoration of the rooms; since 2004 the commission has undertaken a project to restore many of the salons and other [[state room]]s to the period in which they were first built.<ref name=CanHouse/>

===McKay villa and Mappin block===
{{multiple image
| align       =right
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| image1      =DSC02011 - Reception Room (43894160985).jpg
| image2      =DSC01987 - Which way to go.... (30933177408).jpg
| image3      =Rideau Hall - 11.jpg
| image4      =Rideau Hall - 12.jpg
| footer      =(Clockwise from top) the reception room of Rideau Hall, showing original windows of the McKay villa (right), now [[Blind arch|blind]]; the three original McKay villa [[French door]]s in the reception room; the [[Edwardian architecture|Edwardian-style]] entrance hall inside the Mappin wing; the door across from the top of the stair enters into the reception room
}}

The sole remaining part of the original McKay villa is the reception room on the ground floor and the royal suite directly above. The former was created in 1913 by removing the interior partitions of the villa; the baseboards, mouldings, and trims date from that era.<ref name=CPAC2/> It is where small ceremonies and presentations take place, while the latter is an oval room that was previously the drawing room of the original McKay villa and was subsequently used as a ballroom, a studio, and a study before becoming the monarch's bedroom.<ref name=Hubbard14/> Some signs of the McKay house are still visible, notably in the now blanked window on the north wall of the reception room and the ornate plaster ceiling in the royal suite.

Directly west of these rooms is the [[Edwardian architecture|Edwardian]] Mappin wing, which contains the entrance hall. Its walls are partly panelled, partly clad in marble; the lower floor covered in mosaic tile and the upper with wood. The two levels are connected by a wide, white marble, central stair; to each side, at the upper landing, are marble guards with ornate, [[Neoclassical architecture|Neoclassical]] [[balustrades]]. Across from the top of the stair is a door to the reception room.

In 2012, bronze and [[art glass]] handrails, funded by a private donation from [[Rouge Herald Extraordinary]] [[Roger Lindsay]]<ref>{{cite web| url=http://www.canadascapital.gc.ca/property-management/news/2012-07-11/diamond-jubilee-handrails-rideau-hall| last=National Capital Commission| title=Diamond Jubilee Handrails at Rideau Hall| date=11 July 2012| publisher=Queen's Printer for Canada| accessdate=13 August 2012| url-status=dead| archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120813042423/http://www.canadascapital.gc.ca/property-management/news/2012-07-11/diamond-jubilee-handrails-rideau-hall| archive-date=13 August 2012}}</ref> and commissioned by the National Capital Commission,<ref name=coppercanada>{{citation| url=http://en.coppercanada.ca/applications/architecture/awards/2013/Rideau-Hall-Front-En/homepage.html| title=Rideau Hall - Front Entrance Handrail| publisher=Canadian Copper and Brass Development Association| accessdate=14 February 2023}}</ref> were added to each side of the stair to both improve accessibility<ref name=coppercanada/> and commemorate the [[Diamond Jubilee of Queen Elizabeth II]].<ref>{{cite web| url=http://www.gg.ca/document.aspx?id=14596| last=Office of the Governor General of Canada| title=Her Majesty The Queen's New Painting Arrives at Rideau Hall| date=25 June 2012| publisher=Queen's Printer for Canada| accessdate=28 June 2012| archive-date=1 September 2012| archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120901184022/http://www.gg.ca/document.aspx?id=14596| url-status=live}}</ref> As such, bronze plaques bearing the Queen's [[royal cypher]], the dates 1952 and 2012, and the words {{langnf|la|vivat regina|Long live the queen}} were affixed to the bases of the marble stringers on either side of the staircase. The proportions and configuration of the handrails were inspired by the Edwardian architecture of the entrance hall and the decorations were intended to "evoke the nation's history, without resorting to conventional iconography."<ref name=coppercanada/> To express the work of the human hand as well as that of machines, the handrail comprises both [[Forging|forged]] or [[Metalworking hand tool|hand-tooled]], fluidly shaped components—the branch-shaped bars, [[volute]] brackets, the icy, flowing patterns etched on the narrow art glass panels—with rectilinear, stock, [[Machining#Stages in metal cutting|machined]]-bronze pieces. This meeting of nature and human creation "stands for the tie between Canada's evolution as a country and the landscape that nurtured it."<ref name=coppercanada/> The shield of [[Roger Lindsay#Coat of arms|Roger Lindsay's coat of arms]] is affixed discreetly to the lower [[newel]] post, on the north side of the stair.
{{multiple image
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 | align       = right
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 | image1      = DSC01923 - Royal Window (29867749537).jpg
 | caption1    = The Royal Window in the entrance hall
 | image2      = DSC01924 - Governor General Window (30933125298).jpg
 | caption2    = The Viceregal Window in the entrance hall
}}

On the opposite wall, to the left of the entrance, is the Royal Window—a stained glass piece commemorating the [[Ruby Jubilee of Elizabeth II|40th anniversary of the accession of Elizabeth II]] to the throne, displaying, between the [[Royal standards of Canada|Queen's Canadian royal standard]] above and the [[Great Seal of Canada]] below, the monarch's coat of arms for Canada surrounded by the shields of each of the provincial coats of arms. Additionally, in the top two corners are images of Elizabeth's royal cypher, balancing out representations of the Sovereign's badges for both the [[Order of Canada]] and the [[Order of Military Merit (Canada)|Order of Military Merit]] in the bottom two corners. Another stained glass window is found to the right of the entrance, marking the first appointment of a Canadian-born governor general; the viceregal position is symbolized by a crowned lion holding a maple leaf and surrounded by the shields of the arms of the first seven persons to hold the post.<ref>{{cite web| url=http://www.gg.ca/rh/vr/rm-entr-01_e.asp| last=Office of the Governor General of Canada| title=Rideau Hall > The Entrance Hall > Symbols in Glass| publisher=Queen's Printer for Canada| accessdate=23 February 2009| url-status=dead| archive-url=https://archive.today/20070517165119/http://www.gg.ca/rh/vr/rm-entr-01_e.asp| archive-date=17 May 2007}}</ref>

===The Dufferin wings===
Book-ending the Mappin wing are the tent room—used for slightly less formal gatherings—and the ballroom—the centre of state life at Rideau Hall. It is in the latter space that honours and awards ceremonies take place and members of the [[Cabinet (government)|Cabinet]] are sworn in; as such, it is the second most photographed and televised room in Canada, preceded only by the [[House of Commons of Canada|House of Commons]].<ref name=CPAC/> The ballroom is also where ambassadors present their diplomatic credentials and large-scale [[State banquet|state dinners]] are held; some 60,000 meals are served in the ballroom every year to up to 130 guests per function.<ref name=rug>{{citation| url=https://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/national/rideau-hall-rug-woven-by-hand/article18257453/| last=Taber| first=Jane| title=Rideau Hall rug woven by hand| date=9 January 2004| newspaper=The Globe and Mail| accessdate=14 February 2023}}</ref> The room can accommodate 350 people for functions not requiring tables.<ref name=rug/> Both the tent room and ballroom were added during the tenure of [[Frederick Hamilton-Temple-Blackwood, 1st Marquess of Dufferin and Ava|the Earl of Dufferin]].
{{multiple image
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 | caption1    = The ballroom, with the Sovereign's Wall the far end
 | image2      = Rideau Hall 62.jpg
 | caption2    = The ballroom's ornamental moulding
}}

A double-height space, the ballroom is lined with tall, arched windows placed between rectangular pilasters that are topped with gilt, [[Acanthus (ornament)|acanthus]]ed capitals. [[Molding (decorative)#Types|Cable moulding]] trim surrounds most of the openings and, around the perimeter of the room, at the intersection of walls and ceiling, is a deep and ornate plaster [[crown moulding]] formed by a godroon textured [[frieze]] and a heavy [[dentil]]ed [[bed-mould]] between layers of talon and gorge mouldings. Above this is the Victorian, lacunar, clear span [[Vault (architecture)|vaulted]] ceiling, from the centre of which hangs a one-[[ton]] [[chandelier]], containing 12,000 pieces of [[Waterford Crystal]],<ref name=Johansen>{{citation| url=https://www.thestar.com/life/travel/2008/06/05/rideau_hall_is_fit_for_a_queen.html| last=Johansen| first=Peter| title=Rideau Hall is fit for a queen| date=5 June 2008| newspaper=The Toronto Star| accessdate=14 February 2023}}</ref> that was presented by the [[Government of the United Kingdom|British government]] on [[Victoria Day]] in 1951 as a token of gratitude for Canada's role in World War II. The north wall, known as the Sovereign's Wall,<ref>{{harvnb| Department of Canadian Heritage| 2015| p=iii}}</ref> is solid and used to display portraits of monarchs or other large paintings. Also, in an alcove off the antechamber to the ballroom is a stained glass window that celebrates the excellence of Canadian performing artists and the establishment of the Governor General's Performing Arts Awards.<ref>{{cite web| url=http://www.gg.ca/rh/vr/rm-ball_e.asp| last=Office of the Governor General of Canada| title=Rideau Hall > The Ballroom| publisher=Queen's Printer for Canada| accessdate=23 February 2009| url-status=dead| archive-url=https://archive.today/20070517165119/http://www.gg.ca/rh/vr/rm-ball_e.asp| archive-date=17 May 2007}}</ref>

The present décor in the ballroom—[[powder blue]] walls with beige [[Marbleizing|marbleized]] pilasters, [[Cream (colour)|cream]] trim, and shades of [[Peach (color)|peach]], cream, and [[old gold]] on the ceiling, all with gilt highlights—was implemented by Adrienne Clarkson when she was the Queen's representative between 1999 and 2005. By stripping away a more monochrome palette that had been applied to the room in the 1970s, this restored the ballroom to a scheme closer to the original that was in place when the room was first completed in 1872.<ref>{{Cite news| last=Cook| first=Maria| title=When Her Majesty comes for Thanksgiving| newspaper=Ottawa Citizen| date=12 March 2003| url=http://www2.canada.com/national/features/royalvisit/story.html?id=dd0ab8ea-0e03-466b-bdd6-ee940a2bc79f| accessdate=14 March 2009| url-status=dead| archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120301011908/http://www2.canada.com/national/features/royalvisit/story.html?id=dd0ab8ea-0e03-466b-bdd6-ee940a2bc79f| archive-date=1 March 2012}}</ref> The carpet, which was the last element of the ballroom's seven-year restoration project, is in "mixed tones of gold, cream, and blue-green," with a lattice pattern over the body of the rug and a twisting acanthus leaf pattern (matching the pilaster capitals) around the border.<ref name=rug/> It was [[Weaving#Hand loom weavers|hand-woven]], using the low cut and loop technique, by Miritech Carpets in [[Kitchener, Ontario|Kitchener]]-[[Waterloo, Ontario]], which is the only Canadian-owned mill in the country. Miritech also produced the rug in the state dining room.<ref name=rug/> The previously used rug, in place for 16 years, was cut up and reused in secondary rooms and other residences.<ref name=rug/> The new rug covers a floor made of [[oak]] set in a [[herringbone pattern]].<ref>{{citation| url=https://www.yelp.ca/biz_photos/estra-flooring-ottawa?select=y91-kvjHBR49hlZ9bO7vDw| title=Estra Flooring| publisher=Yelp| accessdate=15 February 2023}}</ref>
[[File:Rideau Hall 37.jpg|thumb|The tent room's appearance is drawn from the early use of striped fabric draped on walls]]

The appearance of the tent room is inspired by the earlier use of striped fabric, draped on the walls and hung in swaths from the ceiling, in order to temporarily transform what was normally the tennis court into a hall for banquets and parties.<ref name=Hubbard/> The room today has a wall covering of vertically striped, red and gold fabric with a padded backing, which rises to meet the same fabric, hung in a swag fashion outwards from a single [[coffer]] in the centre of the ceiling and trimmed around the perimeter of the room with a [[Scallop#In design|scallop edged]] valence of simple [[passementerie]] and [[tassel]]s. This gives the space an overall resemblance to the interior of a large [[tent]]. The west wall of the room is broken by series of windows, each paired with a double door into the long gallery on the opposite wall, and, between them, a continuous [[frame and panel]] [[wainscoting]]. All this woodwork, including the door frames and other trim, is painted in a gloss white to contrast with the textured and patterned wall fabric.

===Monck wing===
[[File:DSC01989 - Pauline Vanier Room (44754586042).jpg|thumb|The Pauline Vanier room contains furniture and other cabinetry works crafted by Canadians]]

Within the Monck wing, built between 1865 and 1866, are other living quarters and drawing and dining rooms generally for non-state affairs, such as the Pauline Vanier room, a small sitting room where informal meetings are held with visiting heads of state and other officials. The room was originally created in the 1960s by [[Pauline Vanier]] out of an old [[aide-de-camp]] [[smoking room]], giving the space [[pine]] panelling and filling it with antique furnishings from Quebec.<ref>{{Harvnb| Hubbard| 1977| p=230}}</ref> However, it was later again refurbished to remove the [[tongue and groove]] planks Vanier had installed and which were said to be reminiscent of suburban basement panelling popular in the 1970s. The Pauline Vanier room today contains furniture and other cabinetry works by Canadian artisans,<ref>{{cite journal| last=Barrett| first=Maurie| title=The Great Hunt for Governor General's Literary Award Winners| journal=Amphora| issue=144| date=October 2006| url=http://www.alcuinsociety.com/amphora/144/RideauHall.html| accessdate=23 February 2009| url-status=dead| archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080725031905/http://www.alcuinsociety.com/amphora/144/RideauHall.html| archive-date=25 July 2008}}</ref> as well as works by Canadian artists such as [[Kenojuak Ashevak]], [[Emily Carr]], and [[Norval Morrisseau]].<ref name=CTVRH/>

For more formal gatherings both before and after state events, as well as for entertaining visiting heads of state and their party, the large drawing room, on the south side of the Monck wing, is used. Previously called the red salon, the space underwent thorough renovations in 1901, updating it to the [[Edwardian architecture|Edwardian style]] that was popular at the time, giving it [[Panelling#Boiserie|boiserie]] panelling formed from plaster mouldings, a layered crown moulding, as well as windows and doors with [[chambranle]]d montants, the latter openings also equipped with moulded, classical [[overdoor]]s. On the walls of the drawing room are hung portraits depicting the viceregal consorts of previous governors general.<ref>{{cite web| url=http://www.gg.ca/rh/vr/rm-draw_e.asp| last=Office of the Governor General of Canada| title=Rideau Hall > The Large Drawing Room| publisher=Queen's Printer for Canada| accessdate=23 February 2009| url-status=dead| archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20051125000340/http://www.gg.ca/rh/vr/rm-draw_e.asp| archive-date=25 November 2005}}</ref> Directly across the hall from the large drawing room is the state dining room, which is reserved for state dinners for visiting heads of state with smaller parties, with the table seating a maximum of 42 guests. in 1909, the dining room, too, was renovated to a similar Edwardian look, but its present day layout did not emerge until the late 1940s, after various subsequent renovations.<ref>{{cite web| url=http://www.gg.ca/rh/vr/rm-dini_e.asp| last=Office of the Governor General of Canada| title=Rideau Hall > The Large Dining Room| publisher=Queen's Printer for Canada| accessdate=23 February 2009| url-status=dead| archive-url=https://archive.today/20070517165119/http://www.gg.ca/rh/vr/rm-dini_e.asp| archive-date=17 May 2007}}</ref> The sterling silver sets on display in this room are on loan from [[Buckingham Palace]].<ref name=Mon/>
{{multiple image
| total_width =260
| align       =left
| direction   =vertical
| image1      =Vladimir Putin in Canada 18-19 December 2000-2.jpg
| caption1    =Governor General [[Adrienne Clarkson]] (right) with [[President of Russia|Russian president]] [[Vladimir Putin]] (left) in the governor general's study, 2000
| image2      =Albert-grey-vierter-earl-grey.jpg
| caption2    =Governor General [[Albert Grey, 4th Earl Grey|the Earl Grey]] in the governor general's study, 1909
}}

The governor general's study sits at the far east end of the Monck wing's ground floor, next to another study allocated for the viceroy's consort. The former is panelled in carved wood that was installed when the room was constructed in 1906, with the names of each governor general applied in succession around the room,<ref name=CPAC/> below the [[dado rail]] and a rendition of the sovereign's arms for the United Kingdom as a focal piece above the fireplace (reflecting the era in which the room was fitted). When the prime minister arrives for an audience with the governor in the latter's study, he or she uses the dedicated prime minister's entrance, which is on the north side of the Monck addition, and opens into the easternmost of the wing's two staircases, from which it is only a short walk to the viceroy's office. Across from the study, the library contains a complete collection of [[Governor General's Literary Award]] winning works.{{#tag:ref|See [[Governor General's Awards#Governor General's Literary Awards|Governor General's Awards § Governor General's Literary Awards]].|group=n|name=GGaward}}<ref name=CPAC/> This room began as a bedroom for Lady Monck, later becoming the governor general's office, a boudoir, the military secretary's office, a smoking room, a flower room, and a card room, before being assigned its current role in 1952.<ref>{{cite news |url= https://beta.theglobeandmail.com/life/home-and-garden/decor/governor-general-david-johnstons-favourite-room-in-rideauhall/article35461353/ |last= Gable |first= Blair |title= A storied space |date= 26 June 2017 |newspaper= The Globe and Mail |accessdate= 24 September 2017 |archive-date= 5 September 2017 |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20170905182847/https://beta.theglobeandmail.com/life/home-and-garden/decor/governor-general-david-johnstons-favourite-room-in-rideauhall/article35461353/ |url-status= live }}</ref>

Further, the Monck wing houses another, smaller drawing room and a billiard room. The viceregal suite, consisting of a study/living room, a large bedroom, and a kitchenette,<ref name=Fraser>{{Cite web |last=Fraser |first=John |author-link= John Fraser (journalist) |title= Excellency |date= 1 February 2003 |url= http://www.ccmms.ca/clarkson.asp| accessdate=1 March 2009| url-status=dead| archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110706171832/http://www.ccmms.ca/clarkson.asp| archive-date=6 July 2011 }}</ref> is at the far west end of the upper floor. Also on the second level is the royal suite (the bedroom being the former parlour of the McKay villa) and the other guest bedrooms, each being named for a former British governor. The descendants of these men were approached in the 1990s with a request for donations of historical memorabilia, to which, amongst others, the Devonshires—relations of [[Victor Cavendish, 9th Duke of Devonshire|the ninth Duke of Devonshire]]—responded with a Regency mirror that had been used at [[Chatsworth House]].<ref name=Mon/> On that floor is also a [[chapel]], installed during the Michener period, and which was made [[Ecumenism|ecumenical]] and opened on 2 July 1967, in the presence of Queen Elizabeth II, for both [[Anglicanism|Anglican]] and [[Roman Catholic Church|Roman Catholic]] services.<ref>{{Harvnb| Hubbard| 1977| p=242}}</ref>

===Art===
{{multiple image
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| image2      =DSC02003 - Native Canadian Carving (30933191368).jpg
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| footer      =(Clockwise from top) works of art in the [[Vestibule (architecture)|antechamber]] to the ballroom; a [[Haida people#Art|Haida carving]] in the Pauline Vanier room; the portrait of Governor General [[Jeanne Sauvé]] by [[Cleeve Horne]]
}}

Originally, most of the art in Rideau Hall was the personal property of the incumbent governor general and, as with much of the furnishings, was removed upon the end of the viceroy's commission. Starting in the 20th century, however, more and more pieces, including [[Work of art|objets d'art]], paintings, sculptures, books, furnishings, and rugs, were added to the dedicated [[Crown Collection]] for Government House,<ref>{{Cite journal| last=Canadiana Fund| title=The Canadiana Fund: Preserving Our Common Heritage| journal=In the Know| volume=1| page=4| year=2007| url=http://www.canadascapital.gc.ca/data/2/rec_docs/9454_CanFunds_Newsletter_07.pdf| accessdate=13 January 2010| archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20091222081119/http://www.canadascapital.gc.ca/data/2/rec_docs/9454_CanFunds_Newsletter_07.pdf| archive-date=22 December 2009| url-status=dead}}</ref><ref>{{cite web| url=http://www.gg.ca/document.aspx?id=164&lan=eng| last=Office of the Governor General of Canada| author-link=Governor General of Canada| title=Rideau Hall > Plan Your Visit > Art Tour| publisher=Queen's Printer for Canada| accessdate=13 January 2010| archive-date=21 October 2009| archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20091021153215/http://www.gg.ca/document.aspx?id=164&lan=eng| url-status=live}}</ref> either through gifts or purchases;<ref name=RHart>{{citation| url=http://www.gg.ca/media/fs-fd/art_e.asp| archive-url=https://wayback.archive-it.org/all/20081009074914/http://www.gg.ca/media/fs-fd/art_e.asp| url-status=dead| archive-date=9 October 2008| author=Office of the Governor General of Canada| title=Rideau Hall > Collection of Art and Furniture at Rideau Hall| publisher=Queen's Printer for Canada| accessdate=24 February 2009}}</ref> for instance, in 1946, Sir [[James Hamet Dunn|James Dunn]] presented the Crown with two paintings by [[Johann Zoffany]]. Today the collection of furnishing, art, and artifacts at Rideau Hall is composed of private gifts from the Canada Fund (a foundation created by the government of Canada) and the Friends of Rideau Hall.<ref>{{cite web| url=http://www.gg.ca/rh/vr/rm-long_e.asp| last=Office of the Governor General of Canada| title=Rideau Hall > The Long Gallery| publisher=Queen's Printer for Canada| accessdate=24 February 2009| url-status=dead| archive-url=https://archive.today/20070517165119/http://www.gg.ca/rh/vr/rm-long_e.asp| archive-date=17 May 2007}}</ref> The pieces, though predominantly Canadian in origin—including works by [[Lawren Harris]], [[Emily Carr]], [[Jean Paul Lemieux]], [[Bill Reid]], [[William Kurelek]],<ref name=travel/> [[Jean-Paul Riopelle]], and [[Allen Sapp]]<ref>{{citation| url=https://www.pressreader.com/canada/travel-guide-to-canada/20190426/281526522423748| last=Paquet| first=Laura Byrne| title=Vice-Regal Residences: A Glimpse into History| date=26 April 2019| via=[[PressReader]]| accessdate=14 February 2023}}</ref>—also represent the Far East, Europe, and other regions<ref name=RHart/> and can be arranged thematically, such as the Asian-influenced pieces in the long gallery and the portraits of Canadian governors general in the reception room. The Crown Collection works on display are also usually augmented with approximately 100 art pieces and antiques on loan from various museums, galleries, and private collections; this continues a tradition started in the 1930s, when the National Gallery lent pieces to the viceroy at the time, [[Vere Ponsonby, 9th Earl of Bessborough|the Earl of Bessborough]].<ref name=RHart/> In Adrienne Clarkson's words, "the mix of furniture and other objects here now reflects the country, the people who came and settled here, and became part of the Canadian story."<ref name=CFund/>
{{Annotated image 4
| image       =Rideau Hall 47.jpg
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| width       =252
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| image-left  =-130
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| caption     =A copy of [[George Hayter]]'s portrait of [[Queen Victoria]] in the tent room
| icon        =none
}}

Additionally, since the time of Clarkson's appointment, themed artistic exhibitions have been mounted at Rideau Hall, such as that during the tenure of Michaëlle Jean wherein the show "Body and Land" featured select [[Screen-printing|silkscreen]] prints from the artist's book ''[[The Journals of Susanna Moodie]]'' by author [[Margaret Atwood]] and artist Charles Pachter. What had been praised during Clarkson's tenure,<ref name=Fraser/> however, was soon critiqued when it was revealed that into Jean's appointment, Rideau Hall's interpretation and exhibition planner, Fabienne Fusade, was removing from sight the portraits of [[List of Canadian monarchs|Canada's past and present sovereigns]] and other members of the royal family, in order to fulfill Jean's wish to make the vice-regal residence a showcase for Canadian art and give "a strong image of Canada";{{#tag:ref|Fusade called the portraits "anachronisms" and said they "did not fit any more with the current role of the governor general."<ref name=NPart/>|group=n|name=GGart1}}<ref name=NPart>{{Cite news| last=Smyth| first=Julie| title=Rideau Hall's new look| newspaper=National Post| date=7 April 2007| url=https://nationalpost.com/news/story.html?id=5f468a18-40f9-46bb-b094-348152ff5211| accessdate=12 April 2007| url-status=dead| archive-url=https://archive.today/20130129130422/http://www.nationalpost.com/news/story.html?id=5f468a18-40f9-46bb-b094-348152ff5211| archive-date=29 January 2013}}</ref> the portrait by Jean Paul Lemieux of Queen Elizabeth II and the Duke of Edinburgh that had for decades dominated the focal wall of the ballroom was shifted to the rear wall,<ref name=Herald>{{Cite news|last=Gardner| first=Dan |author-link=Dan Gardner (author) | title=A stealth campaign against the Queen| newspaper=Calgary Herald| date=17 February 2009| url=https://calgaryherald.com/opinion/blogs/stealth+campaign+against+Queen/1297679/story.html| accessdate=26 February 2009| url-status=dead| archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090617115509/http://www.calgaryherald.com/opinion/blogs/stealth+campaign+against+Queen/1297679/story.html| archive-date=17 June 2009}}</ref> thereby bumping the copy of [[George Hayter]]'s [[:File:HayterVictoria.jpg|state portrait of Queen Victoria]] that had hung there to the tent room, where the portraits of Canada's British governors general had been collected together. These moves and removals were criticized by the editorial board of the ''[[National Post]]'', as well as other journalists,{{#tag:ref|[[Dan Gardner (author)|Dan Gardner]] said in the ''Calgary Herald'' that "The idea behind all this is to ease the Queen out of the country's consciousness and constitution."<ref name=Herald />|group=n|name=GGart2}} as having "demoted and ghettoized" history in order to "siphon off the great symbolic power of the monarchy, to further [the staff's] particular tastes and agendas," noting that Rideau Hall should not be used "primarily [as] an art gallery."<ref>{{Cite news| last=Editorial| title=What is becoming of Rideau Hall?| newspaper=National Post| date=11 April 2007| url=https://nationalpost.com/news/story.html?id=9b1624f3-3f68-4d54-a57e-bf974af30ee3| accessdate=12 April 2007| url-status=dead| archive-url=https://archive.today/20120908225400/http://www.nationalpost.com/news/story.html?id=9b1624f3-3f68-4d54-a57e-bf974af30ee3| archive-date=8 September 2012}}</ref>

==Grounds==
{{multiple image
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| image1      = 10 Rideau Hall P1350154.jpg
| image2      = Rideau Hall wrought iron fence and posts along Princess Avenue.jpg
| image3      = Rideau Hall - 02.jpg
| footer      = (Clockwise from top) sentries from the [[Governor General's Foot Guards]] at the entrance of the property; the sign at the main gate; the wrought iron fence as it runs along Princess Avenue
}}

Rideau Hall's {{convert|88|acre|km2|adj=on|order=flip}} contains uniquely Canadian landscapes designed in the [[Natural landscaping|natural]] and [[formal garden|formal styles]], including broad lawns, groves of trees (there are over 10,000 trees on the property<ref name=Johansen/>), and meandering roads and pathways. The property is surrounded by a {{convert|2500|m|ft|adj=mid|-long}} Victorian style [[cast iron]] and [[cast stone]] fence put up from 1928 into the 1930s.<ref name=LeBlanc/><ref name=Parks1>{{citation| url=https://www.pc.gc.ca/apps/dfhd/page_fhbro_eng.aspx?id=2798| author=Government of Canada| title=Rideau Hall, Secondary gates and fences| date=16 January 1987| publisher=King's Printer for Canada| accessdate=15 February 2023}}</ref> The Main Gate and adjacent Gate Lodge were designed by Frederick Preston Rubidge and constructed between 1867 and 1868; the gates themselves were produced by William Glendinneng Manufacturer of Montreal. The light fixtures atop the piers to either side of the gate were added at a later date. These elements, the Gate Lodge, and the fence and other gates were together designated as a [[Federal Heritage Buildings Review Office|federal heritage building]] on 16 January 1987.{{refn|<ref name=Parks1/><ref name=Parks2>{{citation| url=https://www.pc.gc.ca/apps/dfhd/page_fhbro_eng.aspx?id=2799| author=Government of Canada| title=Rideau Hall, Main Gate| date=16 January 1987| publisher=King's Printer for Canada| accessdate=14 February 2023}}</ref><ref>{{citation| url=https://www.pc.gc.ca/apps/dfhd/page_fhbro_eng.aspx?id=2793| author=Government of Canada| title=Rideau Hall, Gate Lodge| date=16 January 1987| publisher=King's Printer for Canada| accessdate=15 February 2023}}</ref>}} The piers and [[ironwork]] of the perimeter fence were modelled on those of the Main Gate.<ref name=Parks2/>

The entire site is divided into five distinct areas: the wooded entrance park (trees, groundcover, [[daffodil]]s, and lawn), the open parkland (meadow), the [[sugar bush]], the [[Ornamental plant|ornamental gardens]], and the farm (out-buildings and open area).<ref>{{cite journal| last=Dicaire| first=Linda| title=Rideau Hall And Its Gardens| journal=Yearbook| page=19| year=2000| url=http://www.ottawahort.org/yearbook2000-3.htm| accessdate=24 February 2009| url-status=dead| archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080526183102/http://www.ottawahort.org/yearbook2000-3.htm| archive-date=26 May 2008}}</ref> The last once included a herd of cattle and fields used to grow hay, but today the only remaining agricultural ventures are the vegetable and herb gardens that have been worked since the time of the McKay family.<ref name=CPAC/> From these fields, plants, fruits, and edible flowers are used in the palace kitchens,<ref>{{Harvnb| Office of the Secretary to the Governor General| 2002| p=14}}</ref> and a [[greenhouse]] and flower garden provide flowers for the hall and other government buildings in Ottawa. Further, during the early spring months, the [[maple]]s throughout the property are tapped for [[Maple syrup|syrup]] making. In total, more than 10,000 trees grow on the grounds.<ref>{{cite press release| title=Visit the Governor General's Official Residences at Rideau Hall and the Citadelle of Quebec| publisher=Reuters| date=15 May 2009| url=https://www.reuters.com/article/pressRelease/idUS169097+15-May-2009+MW20090515| archive-url=https://archive.today/20120908020324/http://www.reuters.com/article/pressRelease/idUS169097+15-May-2009+MW20090515| url-status=dead| archive-date=8 September 2012| accessdate=5 August 2009}}</ref> Additionally, there is a {{convert|1|km|mi|spell=in|adj=mid|-long}} honorary segment of the [[Trans Canada Trail]] on the property.<ref>{{citation| url=https://tctrail.ca/assets/pdf/newsletters/EN-130528-Honorary-Trail-opening-at-Rideau-Hall-and-24-Sussex-a-resounding-success.pdf| archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150120024639/https://tctrail.ca/assets/pdf/newsletters/EN-130528-Honorary-Trail-opening-at-Rideau-Hall-and-24-Sussex-a-resounding-success.pdf| url-status=dead| archive-date=20 January 2015| title=Honorary Trail opening at Rideau Hall and 24 Sussex a resounding success| date=28 May 2013| journal=Trail Talk| accessdate=16 January 2015}}</ref>
{{multiple image
| align       =left
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| image_style =border:1;
| perrow      =1/2/1
| image1      =Inukshuk at Rideau Hall.jpg
| image2      =GovernorGeneralSkatingRinkCanada.jpg
| image3      =Small fountain in front of the Rideau Hall - panoramio.jpg
| image4      =006 Rideau Hall (Ottawa), tòtem kwakiutl, als jardins.jpg
| footer      =(Clockwise from top) the [[inukshuk]] created by [[Kananginak Pootoogook]] and erected in 1997; the Fountain of Hope in the [[Courtyard|forecourt]]; the skating rink on the grounds of Rideau Hall; the [[totem pole]] by [[Mungo Martin]]
}}

As with the house that sits on them, the grounds too were transformed throughout the decades: Lady Byng created the existing [[rock garden]], with a reflecting pool and wild corner for growing [[trillium]]s and [[orchid]]s; a [[totem pole]] by [[Kwakiutl]] carver [[Mungo Martin]] was gifted to the Earl Alexander of Tunis by the [[Lieutenant Governor of British Columbia]]-[[King-in-Council|in-Council]]; the Fountain of Hope was initiated by [[Gerda Hnatyshyn]] to mark the [[International Year of Disabled Persons]], built in front of Rideau Hall, and dedicated to [[Terry Fox]];<ref>{{cite web| url=http://www.gg.ca/document.aspx?id=55| last=Office of the Governor General of Canada| author-link=Governor General of Canada| title=Role and Responsibilities > Former Governors General > The Right Honourable Ramon John Hnatyshyn| publisher=Queen's Printer for Canada| accessdate=3 February 2010| archive-date=22 November 2010| archive-url=https://archive.today/20101122214643/http://gg.ca/document.aspx?id=55| url-status=live}}</ref> and an [[inukshuk]] by artist [[Kananginak Pootoogook]], from [[Cape Dorset]], Nunavut, was built to commemorate the second [[National Aboriginal Day]], in 1997.<ref name=GGgrounds>{{cite web| url=http://www.gg.ca/rh/vr/rm-gard-03_e.asp| last=Office of the Governor General of Canada| title=Rideau Hall > Gardens and Grounds| publisher=Queen's Printer for Canada| accessdate=26 February 2009| url-status=dead| archive-url=https://archive.today/20070517165119/http://www.gg.ca/rh/vr/rm-gard-03_e.asp| archive-date=17 May 2007}}</ref> The Canadian Heritage Garden is a formal rose garden championed by Gerda Hnatyshyn and constructed to mark the 125th anniversary of Confederation.<ref name=CPAC/> Also, each member of the royal family or visiting dignitary to Rideau Hall is asked to plant a tree; as such, the park, mostly along the main drive, is dotted with nearly 100 trees with small plaques at their bases listing the name and office of the person who planted each particular tree.<ref name=GGgrounds/> These include [[Queen Elizabeth, the Queen Mother]]; [[Diana, Princess of Wales]]; [[Prince Charles, Prince of Wales]]; King George VI; and numerous by Queen Elizabeth II. Foreign dignitaries who have planted trees include [[John F. Kennedy]], [[Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis]], [[Richard Nixon]], [[Bill Clinton]], [[Kofi Annan]], [[Boris Yeltsin]], [[Vladimir Putin]], [[Vicente Fox]], and Emperor [[Akihito]].

Throughout their history as a royal park, the gardens have hosted numerous activities and events. The earliest governors general added amenities such as a [[curling]] rink, a skating pond (which remains in operation, making it one of the oldest rinks in North America<ref name=CPAC/>), [[toboggan]] runs,{{#tag:ref|A toboggan run some 700 metres in length was cut through the forest in 1897, allowing sleds to slide right down to the Ottawa River and, in 1903, the Countess of Minto formed the Minto Skating Club and held amateur competitions at Rideau Hall each year.<ref>{{Harvnb| Office of the Secretary to the Governor General| 2002| p=13}}</ref>|group=n|name=OSCGG}} tennis courts, and the like, and many of the guests at Rideau Hall would partake in these outdoor activities, including Prime Ministers [[William Lyon Mackenzie King]] and [[Robert Borden]], who would often skate on the iced over pond with the viceregal family. Of the tobogganing, Lieutenant William Galwey, a member of the survey team that laid out the [[Canada–United States border]] and later visited Rideau Hall in November 1871, said: "It is a most favourite amusement at Government House. Ladies go in for it. I think they like rolling over and over with the gentlemen."<ref>{{cite book| last=Parsons| first=John E.| title=West on the 49th Parallel: Red River to the Rockies| publisher=William Morrow & Co.| year=1963| location=New York| pages=130–31| asin=B000OKMAOU}}</ref>
[[File:002 Rideau Hall (Ottawa), centre de visitants, vora Thomas Gate.jpg|thumb|The Visitor Centre is used to facilitate tours of the property]]

The grounds of Rideau Hall have been open to the public since 1921, when the [[Lord Byng of Vimy]]'s aide-de-camp resolved to open Government House to "all who had a right to be there,"<ref>{{cite book| last=Willis-O'Connor| first=H.|author2=Macbeth, Madge |author-link2=Madge Macbeth |title=Inside Government House| url=https://archive.org/details/insidegovernment0000will| url-access=registration| publisher=Ryerson Press| year=1954| location=Toronto| pages=[https://archive.org/details/insidegovernment0000will/page/15 15]| asin=B0007JCSK4}}</ref> a move that outraged the traditionalists. Today an expanded Visitor Centre (formerly the gardener's cottage<ref name=travel/>) has been established to facilitate tours.

Garden parties are held by the viceroy in the summer months, continuing the tradition started by the Lord Lisgar in 1869,<ref>{{Harvnb| Office of the Secretary to the Governor General| 2002| p=16}}</ref> and each year the governor general holds a New Year's [[Levée (event)|Levée]], an event that traces its roots back to the French royal government and which welcomes guests from the public to attend and participate in skating, sledding, and refreshments.<ref name=Mon/> The park also hosts the Rideau Hall Cricket Association and Ottawa Valley Cricket Council, which continues the tradition of [[cricket]] being played in the vice-regal residence's gardens, beginning when the [[cricket pitch]] was laid out by the Viscount Monck in 1866. Matches continue to be played at the hall during summer weekends.<ref>{{cite web| url=http://www.gg.ca/visitus/ovcc_e.asp| last=Office of the Governor General of Canada| title=Rideau Hall > Rideau Hall Cricket Association| publisher=Queen's Printer for Canada| accessdate=26 February 2009| url-status=dead| archive-url=https://archive.today/20061009184424/http://www.gg.ca/visitus/ovcc_e.asp| archive-date=9 October 2006}}</ref>

===Other structures===
[[File:Rideau Hall Gasometer.jpg|thumb|The Dome Building on the grounds of Rideau Hall, 2018]]

Other than Rideau Hall itself, there are 27 buildings around the property, including Rideau Cottage (currently serving as a temporary official home for the Prime Minister and his family<ref>{{cite news| url=https://nationalpost.com/news/politics/trudeau-to-call-22-room-rideau-cottage-home-while-deciding-on-whether-to-move-into-24-sussex| last=Butler| first=Don| title=Trudeaus to call 22-room Rideau Cottage home while deciding on whether to move into 24 Sussex| date=26 October 2015| newspaper=National Post| access-date=26 October 2015}}</ref>); offices for the Royal Canadian Mounted Police, National Capital Commission, and Public Works and Government Services Canada; the [[Governor General's Foot Guards]]' House; the [[Gasometer]] or Dome Building (built in 1877 as storage for [[coal gas]] used for lighting in Rideau Hall<ref>{{citation| url=https://robertsonmartin.com/project/rideau-hall-dome/| title=Dome Building at Rideau Hall| publisher=Robertson Martin Architects| accessdate=15 February 2023}}</ref>);<ref>{{CRHP|4656|Rideau Hall, Gasometer|15 June 2019}}</ref> the Visitors Centre; the Farm Building; and stables. Additionally, there are six greenhouses.<ref>{{cite web| url=http://www.oag-bvg.gc.ca/internet/English/parl_oag_200805_06_e_30702.html#hd5a| title=2008 May Report of the Auditor General of Canada > Chapter 6—Conservation of Federal Official Residences| publisher=Queen's Printer for Canada| accessdate=19 January 2015| date=2008-05-06| archive-date=22 October 2014| archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141022002544/http://www.oag-bvg.gc.ca/internet/English/parl_oag_200805_06_e_30702.html#hd5a| url-status=live}}</ref>

===Surrounding properties===
Though not on the grounds of Rideau Hall, [[St. Bartholomew's Anglican Church (Ottawa)|St Bartholomew's Anglican Church]] is located across MacKay Street on property once belonging to the MacKay Villa estate. It is regularly used by governors general and their families and sometimes by the sovereign and other members of the royal family, as well as by viceregal household staff, their families, and members of the Governor General's Foot Guards, for whom the church also is a regimental chapel.<ref>{{cite web| url=http://www.stbartsottawa.ca/history_part1.html| title=The History and Architecture of St. Barts| publisher=St. Bartholomew's Anglican Church| accessdate=15 December 2014| url-status=dead| archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150104064917/http://www.stbartsottawa.ca/history_part1.html| archive-date=4 January 2015}}</ref> Also nearby is [[7 Rideau Gate]], which is a guesthouse for distinguished visitors of the Crown situated just outside and facing onto the forecourt of the main gate of Rideau Hall.<ref>{{CRHP|4650|Official Guest Residence|15 June 2019}}</ref>

==See also==
{{Portal|Canada|Monarchy|Ontario}}
* [[Government Houses in Canada]]
* [[Government Houses of the British Empire and Commonwealth]]
* [[List of buildings in Ottawa]]
* [[List of palaces]]

==Notes==
{{Reflist|group=n}}

==References==
{{Reflist}}

==Further reading==
* {{cite news| url=https://ottawacitizen.com/life/food/a-rare-taste-of-rideau-halls-kitchen-garden| last=Robin| first=Laura| title=A rare taste of Rideau Hall's kitchen garden| date=11 September 2014| newspaper=Ottawa Citizen}}

==External links==
{{Commons category|Rideau Hall}}
* {{official website|https://www.gg.ca/en/visit-us/rideau-hall}}
* [https://recherche-collection-search.bac-lac.gc.ca/eng/home/record?app=ordincou&IdNumber=5299&q=Order-in-Council%201868-0718%20for%20purchase%20of%20Rideau%20Hall Minister of Public Works - For the purchase of Rideau Hall and other property from the McKay Estate] from [[Library and Archives Canada]]
* [https://www.tbs-sct.gc.ca/dfrp-rbif/pn-nb/02078-eng.aspx Rideau Hall - Directory of Federal Real Property] from the [[Treasury Board of Canada Secretariat]]
* {{youTube|h7vV5H5WELU|Rideau Hall - A Tour with the Johnstons}} by [[CPAC (TV channel)|CPAC]]
* [https://www.cbc.ca/player/play/1661570232 The Schreyers’ new life at Rideau Hall] on the [[Canadian Broadcasting Corporation|CBC]] Digital Archive

{{ca-residence}}
{{Governor General of Canada}}
{{Ottawa landmarks}}
{{ Official Government residences in North America and the Caribbean }}

[[Category:Houses completed in 1838]]
[[Category:Houses completed in 1914]]
[[Category:Federal government buildings in Ottawa]]
[[Category:Monarchy of Canada]]
[[Category:Houses in Ottawa]]
[[Category:Government Houses in Canada|+]]
[[Category:Canadian heraldry]]
[[Category:Cricket grounds in Ontario]]
[[Category:Museums in Ottawa]]
[[Category:Historic house museums in Ontario]]
[[Category:Estate gardens in Canada]]
[[Category:National Historic Sites in Ontario]]
[[Category:Sussex Drive]]
[[Category:National Capital Commission]]