Select Quantity

In October of 1913, George Hedley Vicars Bulyea, Alberta's first lieutenant governor, celebrated the completion of Government House by throwing a grand fete, to which he invited Albertans from all walks of life. It was easy to imagine in those early days that the stately mansion, arguably the most imposing in the relatively new province of Alberta, would always serve as a vice-regal residence, given its luxury and grandeur. A mere 25 years later, however, this role ended and the world events would cast their shadow on Alberta, and the building would be called into a less glamourous kind of duty. In a compeling and largely unknown chapter of its past, Government House would be converted into an army barracks for American Engineers during the Second World War, then into a convalescent hospital for returning veterans. These are but some of the building's many transformations as documented in Alberta's Government House, A Vice-Regal Residence, which was commissioned by the Government House Foundation to commemorate Government House's centenary. Designated a National Historic Site and a Provincial Historic Resource, Government House's place in history is assured, and its story continues.

Author: Jane Ross