The home of Canada’s 1st Prime Minister and Kingston’s most famous son: Sir John A. Macdonald. Explore the Visitor Centre, meet costumed staff, and take a guided tour of the grounds.

Historic grounds and home

As an historic carriage drive opens before you, take a picture of Bellevue House and its authentic 1840s green and white exterior. Hear the echoes of family footsteps in rooms and halls where Sir John A. Macdonald and his wife enjoyed a tranquil year. Tour their gardens and explore the grounds with a maid in period costume.

View Bellevue House the same way as the 19th-century architect who built it, as a scenic landscape painting inspired by the ideals of the Picturesque movement. Built in the 1840s in the style of an Italianate villa, Bellevue House was once the lake-front retreat of Sir John A. Macdonald and his wife Isabella. Here, Lake Ontario breezes brought fresh air into rooms filled with sunlight, helping Isabella recuperate from a long chronic illness. From 1848 to 1849, the couple and their infant son enjoyed a serene private life, growing vegetables and herbs from their kitchen garden, stocking their root cellar and enjoying the quiet of the surrounding woods on Lake Ontario. Discover how the death of their son and money troubles took them back to bustling Kingston and Sir John A. Macdonald’s destiny as the father of Canadian Confederation.

This attraction is included in the K-Pass!
Learn more about Bellevue House at www.pc.gc.ca/en/lhn-nhs/on/bellevue