Happiness

My second stop for this visit to the Gatineau Hills was the Mackenzie King Estate.

This was the summer retreat of William Lyon Mackenzie King, the dominant force in Canadian politics in the first half of the 20th century. Prime Minister from 1921-30 and 1935-1948, King led the country through crises, built national institutions, and raised the country's profile in the world. Simply put, one of our greatest prime ministers.

He first came up this way at the turn of the century, where established names like King Mountain and Kingsmere Lake would have appealed to him, and started buying land, building cottages, and hosting guests over time. The property became his refuge and his place of contentment, nestled in the beauty of nature.

Two of the residences are open to the public. The third, where King spent his final years, is called the Farm, and is official residence to the Speaker of the House of Commons. Any visit here should start at Kingswood.

King was a diarist, and some of the quotes from his diaries are found along the paths on the estate.

Kingswood is where he started building, with a main cottage, guest cottage, carriage house, and lake house on the grounds. The name is a mix of Kingsmere and his childhood home, Woodside. The creamy yellow with white and green colour motif is common to buildings on the estate. This is the carriage house.