Rockcliffe Park: Ottawa's First Planned Suburb
Ottawa's First Real Estate Experiment
Rockcliffe Park is one of the most prestigious addresses in Ottawa today but it didn't start out that way by accident. It started as a deliberate design experiment, more than 160 years ago.
The Origin
In 1864, engineer Thomas Coltrin Keefer laid out Rockcliffe Park on land that had been part of Thomas MacKay's estate, purchased back in the 1830s. Keefer's design was unusual for its time: large lots, winding roads that followed the natural shape of the land instead of a rigid grid, heavy tree cover, and almost no sidewalks. It borrowed from the English and American "picturesque suburb" style a genuinely novel approach to neighbourhood planning in Canada at the time.
The Legacy
That early investment in thoughtful design has held up remarkably well. Rockcliffe Park is now home to Stornoway, the official residence of the Leader of the Opposition, and Lornado, the residence of the US ambassador to Canada. It consistently commands some of the highest real estate prices in the city, and in 2024 it was named a national historic site in recognition of its street design and architecture.
Its neighbours read like a who's who: the Prime Minister's official residence at 24 Sussex Drive sits nearby, alongside the homes of ambassadors, senior diplomats, and other influential figures drawn to the area. The streets are lined with heritage mansions within a Heritage Conservation District (designated in 1977), and the neighbourhood is home to some of the city's most respected private schools, including Elmwood School and Ashbury College.
The neighbourhood has a few quirks of its own, too. McKay Lake, tucked into the heart of Rockcliffe, is private water reserved for the homes along its shore, while everyone else swims next door at the Pond. Down along the river, the NCC's River House a café and bistro built entirely on stilts above the Ottawa River reopened in 2023 and remains one of the only places in the city where you can actually swim in the Ottawa River, supervised docks included.
The River House has a history of its own worth knowing. It was originally built between 1914 and 1925 as a boathouse for the Ottawa New Edinburgh Club, serving paddlers and boating enthusiasts for nearly a century before earning Recognized Federal Heritage Building status in 2010. The National Capital Commission has since taken it over, investing roughly $20 million in a multi-year revitalization completed in 2024, and today owns and operates it as a year-round public destination complete with a public dock, food and beverage service, rental space, and accessible pathways down to the water.
The Takeaway
Rockcliffe is proof that good planning doesn't go out of style. A neighbourhood designed with care in 1864 is still one of the most desirable places to live in Ottawa more than a century and a half later. It's a reminder that thoughtful layout and design are an investment that keeps paying off, long after the original vision is forgotten.
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