Harrington Lake estate is the name of the official country retreat of the Prime Minister of Canada and also the name of the land which surrounds it. It is located near Meech Lake – where the Meech Lake Accord was negotiated in 1987 – approximately 35 kilometers northwest of Ottawa, in an area known as Gatineau Park, amidst the Gatineau Hills in Quebec. The estate is not open to the public, but the Mackenzie King Estate, the retreat of Prime Minister William Lyon Mackenzie King at Kingsmere, is a tourist attraction a few kilometers further south in the park.
| Harrington Lake | |
|---|---|
| General information | |
| Architectural style | Colonial Revival style |
| Town or city | Gatineau, Quebec |
| Country | Canada |
| Coordinates | 45°34′N 75°57′W / 45.567°N 75.95°W / 45.567; -75.95Coordinates: 45°34′N 75°57′W / 45.567°N 75.95°W / 45.567; -75.95 |
| Construction started | 1925 |
| Technical details | |
| Size | 16 room home on 5.4-hectare (13-acre) property |
| Design and construction | |
| Client | Lieutenant Colonel Cameron Macpherson Edwards |
| Owner | The Queen in Right of Canada |
| Landlord | National Capital Commission |
| Architect | Lieutenant Colonel Cameron Macpherson Edwards |
Beside the cottage, the Harrington estate consists of three other buildings:
- staff cottage
- upper guest cottage
- lower guest cottage
- boat house and paddleboat dock
- long dock (located the northeast of the retreat)
The lake itself and the area around it are also referred to as Lac Mousseau. The name Harrington is thought to be a misspelling of Hetherington, the name of a family which settled in this area. The French name Mousseau comes from another early settler to the area, Louis Mousseau.
The retreat to accessed by Chemin de Lac Meech with armed (by the RCMP) gatehouse at driveway to the retreat.
Famous quotes containing the words harrington and/or lake:
“If there is technological advance without social advance, there is, almost automatically, an increase in human misery, in impoverishment.”
—Michael Harrington (1928–1989)
“They who know of no purer sources of truth, who have traced up its stream no higher, stand, and wisely stand, by the Bible and the Constitution, and drink at it there with reverence and humility; but they who behold where it comes trickling into this lake or that pool, gird up their loins once more, and continue their pilgrimage toward its fountain-head.”
—Henry David Thoreau (1817–1862)