The Albert House Inn at 478 Albert St.
The City of Ottawa’s heritage committee has taken steps to secure the long-term future of a unique 19th century building on Albert Street.
The city’s Built Heritage sub-committee has recommended that the Albert House Inn at 478 Albert St. receive a designation status under the Ontario Heritage Act because of its unique Second Empire style, a prominent design in Canada from 1860 to 1900.
The large dwelling is among only a few in the area which maintain the history of the former Ashburnham Hill neighbourhood, located in the west end of old Uppertown.
“Respect has been given to maintain the integrity of that original build,” says Barrhaven Coun. Jan Harder, chair of the sub-committee. “Certainly, all that ties together as to why this is a good candidate.”
John and Catherine Delroy have owned the inn for more than 25 years and have worked hard to maintain its history.
“We’re happy that the building is going to be recognized,” says Catherine Delroy. “We’ve looked after it. We’ve been here for 27 years. All of the buildings on the block used to be like this. It’s one of the few buildings left in the Second Empire style.”
The three-storey building’s mansard roof links it to the Second Empire style, says Angela Carr, an art and architectural history professor at Carleton University. The rectangular roof does not create a traditional peak and allows for windows on the attic level. The decorated semi-circle porch entrance is also representative of the era.
“The mansard roof allowed for extra attic space,” says Carr. “Often this was good for servants who were banished to the outposts of the house. It’s obviously a very elite structure.”
If the building receives heritage status under the provincial act, it will be marked with a bronze plaque outside the entrance. The application still needs to receive approval from the city’s planning committee and then full council, but Delroy doesn’t see anything stopping the project.
“We have no objections, so it’s pretty much going to happen,” she says.
For a building to receive historical status, it must have either design, historical, or contextual value. The building meets each of the requirements, according to Harder and the committee’s official proposal.
“It definitely tells a story of its own from that part of Ottawa,” says Harder.
The home was built in 1874 for Thomas Seaton Scott, the first chief architect for Canada’s public works department.
“It has an importance for its association with (Scott),” says Bruce Elliott, a history professor at Carleton, “who was very important in shaping the nature of federal buildings across the country in the immediate years after Confederation.”
The home was later inhabited by author and journalist William LeSueur in the early 1900s.
For a short time afterwards, the building was an office for the Victorian Order of Nurses and in the middle of the last century the building served as a convent for The Sisters of Service under the name Rosary Hall.
“I’m sort of surprised it’s only coming up for designation now. I thought it would have been a natural,” says Elliott.
“It’s a lot of these older buildings which have traditionally given this part of the city their character.”
The Delroys will not receive any financial compensation to maintain the exterior of the home which would be protected from changes by the status. The owners can make any desired changes to the inside.
“Giving them the heritage designation is recognition of the work the owners have done,” says Elliott, “as well as recognition by the community and by the City that it is of endearing value and is a really good example of an important architect and important style. It was once much more prominent in that part of town than it is now.”
The story of the building, its occupants, and the significance of its construction warrant the heritage status – not simply its age, says Harder.
“Just because something is old doesn’t mean it deserves heritage status,” says Harder. “It may have been altered so much it’s lost virtually all the elements of what would have made it a candidate.”