After election loss, Poilievre likely to lose his home. What to know about Stornoway, residence of Canada’s leader of the Opposition

Stornoway is the official residence of the leader of the Opposition, located in Ottawa’s Rockcliffe Park neighbourhood . After the results of the federal election on Monday night, it’s unclear who its next residents may be — as Conservative leader Pierre Poilievre lost his seat to Liberal Bruce Fanjoy. Without a seat in the House of Commons, Poilievre cannot maintain his status as the official leader of the Opposition. He may have to move out of Stornoway , which is reserved for the Opposition leader, per the Official Residences Act . Meet Bruce Fanjoy, the man who won Pierre Poilievre’s riding “Stornoway reflects both the changing nature and the continuity of tradition in Rockcliffe Park: it dates from the first major pre-First World War building push in Rockcliffe; it was expanded in the 1920s when many of the village’s finest houses were built; and it became an official Government residence when other large Rockcliffe Park houses were being purchased as official residences for foreign diplomats,” according to Parks Canada. Here’s what to know about the historic residence. When was Stornoway built? The house was built in 1913 by grocer Ascanio Joseph Major, according to the National Capital Commission (NCC) . It was one of the first large, permanent residences in the area, per Parks Canada . Major hired architect Alan Keefer to design the home. It was purchased by the prominent Perley-Robertson family in 1923. The family added to the house over the next few years. They also gave the home its name, Stornoway, in memory of Mrs. Perley-Roberston’s grandmother, who came from Stornoway on the Isle of Lewis in Scotland, according to Parks Canada. Was Stornoway ever home to royalty? Yes. During the Second World War, when Germany invaded the Netherlands in May 1940, Crown Princess Juliana and her family rented Stornoway after escaping to England, and then to Canada. The princess, who was Queen Wilhelmina’s heir, and her family first stayed at Rideau Hall, then at a house in Rockcliffe. The Perley-Robertsons then offered up their own home to the royals. They rented it from 1942 until they returned to the Netherlands in 1945, per Parks Canada. How did Stornoway become a home for the leader of the Opposition? According to the NCC, Senator Gratan O’Leary was campaigning to find a home for the leader of the Opposition in 1946. It was around the same time that the federal government was getting 24 Sussex Drive ready to be the official residence of the prime minister, per Parks Canada. Inside Canada’s rotting official residences where six properties need $175M in repairs “A trust was set up to purchase Stornoway and administer the running of the house,” Parks Canada said. “By 1969 the trust, funded by contributions from the public, found it increasingly difficult to maintain the house appropriately.” It was purchased by the Government of Canada on Jan. 1, 1970. The NCC has managed the property since 1988. Which politicians have lived at Stornoway? In 1950, former Ontario premier and Conservative leader George Drew was the first leader of the Opposition to stay in the home, along with his wife, Fiorenza Johnson. Next were Lester and Marion Pearson, in 1958. Stornoway has also been home to John G. Diefenbaker, Robert L. Stanfield, C. Joseph Clark, Pierre Trudeau and John Turner. More recently, Stornoway was home to Andrew Scheer , Erin O’Toole, Candice Bergen , and then Poilievre. Are there any Opposition leaders who did not stay at Stornoway? Yes. In 2011, NDP leader Jack Layton only stayed in the residence for one night, according to an archived iPolitics article . Layton later opted to spend most of his time in Toronto to receive medical care for cancer. He died later that year. Previously, Bloc Quebecois leader Lucien Bouchard refused to live there in 1993, according to iPolitics. What features does Stornoway have? “Stornoway was designed as a two and one half storey wooden house sheathed in stucco,” Parks Canada explains. “All detailing was of the simplest nature, with bracketed wooden window shades above the ground floor windows on the front facade. The most evident decorative elements were a small pediment above the entrance door, flanked by narrow vertical windows; and a tall round headed window to the right of the main entrance emphasized by a small wrought iron rail.” It continued: “In 1923, Keefer designed a projecting two storey wing at the north-western corner of the house. The stable on the grounds was converted to a three-car garage and a second floor added above it. The house was virtually unaltered from 1923 until 1978 when the porte cochère was removed.” A square porch was added in 1983, which “incorporates a cornice, pilasters and a rectangular transom and sidelights evocative of those which surrounded the original entrance, yet gives the house a more traditional appearance.” Stornoway is recognized by the Federal Heritage Buildings Review Office as a federal heritage building.

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