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23-490: Foley Building or Foley House may refer to: Foley House , in Westport, Ontario, Canada, home of Canada's first Prime Minister, Sir John A. Macdonald. Foley House The Foley House is a grand Victorian era house built in 1867, the year of Canadian Confederation , for Declan Finbar Foley and his wife Mary Ann Buckly. Six generations of Declan Foley's descendants enjoyed the well-built home, made three bricks thick and of

46-407: A close the era of an early settler and prominent founding family of Westport. The well-built home, resting on a Canadian Shield granite base remains today in much the same condition as when it was built. Sir John Alexander Macdonald The Foley House has been used for many political and charity events through the years. In 1992, the 125th anniversary of Canada's confederation was celebrated with

69-405: A few items that would have belonged to Macdonald in the late 1840s, including a portion of his library. Bellevue House opened as a "national historic park" in 1967, to coincide with the centennial of Canadian Confederation . Bellevue House is a National Historic Site owned and operated by Parks Canada. It is the only national park system unit commemorating Macdonald as first Prime Minister, and

92-513: A guest room, maid's bedroom, nursery, study, dressing room and master bedroom. The observation floor of the central tower looks out upon Lake Ontario. Much of what is known about the stay of Sir John A. Macdonald and his family at Bellevue has been gleaned from both general historical knowledge of the 19th century in Kingston and from five letters that Macdonald himself wrote while living at Bellevue. The Macdonalds rented Bellevue from Charles Hales in

115-560: A special toast to Sir John A. Macdonald. He is reported by Foley descendants to have stayed with his friend Declan Foley during his many trips between Ottawa and Kingston. It was Sir John's friendship with Declan Foley that led to several items of Macdonald family furniture becoming fixtures in the Foley House, up until the sale out of the Foley family. Thomas D'Arcy McGee was one of the fathers of Canadian confederation. In 1866, within feet of

138-466: A square central tower; different varieties and shapes of windows and roof gables; and multiple small balconies. The house has three main floors, but is further divided by seven levels. The first floor is notable for the very large drawing room, containing a parlour piano manufactured in London, England in about 1820 and two oil paintings whose subjects are unknown. The first floor of the house also contains

161-556: Is one of the main attractions in Kingston. Admission lets visitors explore an exhibit on The Many Voices of Confederation, see a rotating exhibit in the Visitor's Centre, browse artifacts and experience interpretative techniques meant to bring alive what life was like for the Macdonalds as a middle-class family in Kingston in the 1840s. The visitor centre, located on the site of what was the old coach house beside Bellevue, welcomes visitors with

184-527: The 1830s. The house, which is located at 35 Centre St. between Union and King streets, is one of the first examples of Italian Villa architecture in Canada. Sir John A. Macdonald moved into the house with his wife Isabella Clark and their son John Alexander in 1848. Bellevue House is notable for the non-symmetrical Italian Villa style of its architecture. Features of Italianate architecture at Bellevue House include an L-shaped layout with two wings extending from

207-501: The Macdonalds lived at the villa was Lt. Col. John Clark, an officer in the British military who was Isabella's brother and a trusted member of the family. Given the expenses associated with renting Bellevue and the fact that Isabella continued to suffer from chronic illness, the Macdonald family moved from Bellevue House in 1849 to another house in Kingston. At the time of the move, Isabella

230-553: The Province of Canada , Macdonald was often absent from Bellevue House, visiting his second law office in Toronto or attending parliamentary sessions in Montreal. Isabella's health continued to fluctuate during this time. Despite her frail condition, however, Macdonald reports in his letters that she kept a watchful eye on the servants and the day-to-day affairs of the house. While entertaining

253-521: The Westport community with such diverse items as farm equipment, building supplies, mortgages, fabrics, eyeglasses and medicinal products. Although Declan and Mary Ann had many children - sixteen within twenty-two years - four children died in their youth. All of the children were highly educated. And several Foley descendants played prominent roles in Canadian government and in religion. The youngest daughter of Declan, Mary - known as "Birdie"- loved nature and

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276-732: The best available materials. Declan Finbar Foley was born 1819 in Youghal, County Cork , Ireland, one of five children. After his father's death in 1836, Declan and his sister Bridget emigrated to live with their uncle Rev. Patrick Foley in Ogdensburg, New York. Traveling to Kingston, Ontario , where brother John, had entered the Regeopolis College, Declan spent a few years employed by the Honorable John Hamilton [1] . Declan's move to Prescott, Ontario and his marriage to Mary Ann Buckly of

299-422: The floor plan. Parks Canada historians and archaeologists did significant research to determine how the home would have appeared in the late 1840s, and it was restored both indoors and outdoors to its original colours and wallpaper patterns. Furnishings from the 1820s–1840s were purchased from antique dealers in Kingston and surrounding areas to lend as much authenticity as possible to the site. The site also received

322-440: The formal dining room and a room that is currently interpreted as Isabella's bedroom (though this would likely have been a morning room for other families living at Bellevue in the 19th century). A kitchen is located in the cellar. The basement contains both a storage area (used for the storage of fruits, vegetables, and preserves) and a laundry room. On the top floor of the house, several rooms are interpreted. These include

345-535: The hope that the fresh air of what were then the outer suburbs of Kingston would assist in Isabella's recovery. The experiment was a failure, and Isabella did not recover from her chronic malady. In addition to this burden, tragedy further struck the young family when their first-born son, John Alexander Jr., died in the house a month after his first birthday. As a lawyer and a member of the Legislative Assembly of

368-545: The same today as it did when it was constructed, and was maintained and improved under the guidance of the curator of Sir John A. Macdonald homestead Bellevue House [4] , a resident of Westport. The home was sold out of the Foley family in 2002, then again in 2008. After being converted back into single-family estate, Foley House was sold once more in 2020. 44°40′40″N 76°23′40″W  /  44.67769°N 76.39456°W  / 44.67769; -76.39456 Bellevue House Bellevue House National Historic Site

391-499: The site of the Foley House, he is reported to have given an impassioned soap box speech in favour of confederation. Just two years later he was shot dead on the steps of his home in Ottawa. In 1997, the great, great-granddaughter of Declan Foley converted the mercantile into The Foley Arms (then later, Remy's Westport), a restaurant and pub at which patrons were served while seated at the original 1867 sales counter. The Foley House looks much

414-476: The steam ships Rideau King [2] and Rideau Queen [3] ferrying people and supplies between Ottawa and Kingston a safe distance away from the St. Lawrence River and the perceived fear of American attack. Declan established a mercantile and forwarding business with docking at the base of his property. The general store opened by Declan Foley, and continued by his son John, operated from 1867 until 1945. The store supplied

437-468: The township of Beckwith, near Almonte in 1846 was the beginning of a new branch of the Foley family. In 1851, after spending five years with his brother Michael, who owned a general store in Chicago, Declan was drawn to Westport by his brother John, who was a circuit Priest. It was the beginning of the era of the Foley's of Westport. The Westport, Ontario waterfront had become a thriving commercial center, with

460-424: Was a talented painter. Of course, no young lady of that time would be encouraged to sell her art; such talent was considered a private gift. As a result, many of Birdie's paintings, in handsome frames, hung in the Foley drawing room for over 100 years. In 2001, the disheartening task of dispersing home and contents rested on the shoulders of Mrs. Ursula Gilhooly, great-granddaughter of Declan Finbar Foley, bringing to

483-428: Was expected of prominent lawyers and politicians like Macdonald in the 19th century, Isabella's frail condition prevented her from fulfilling this part of her responsibility as a politician's wife. For this reason, the drawing room and the back parlour would likely not have been used while the Macdonald family stayed at Bellevue House. The only guest that is known to have stayed at Bellevue House between 1848 and 1849 while

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506-415: Was pregnant with their second child, Hugh John Macdonald. Bellevue House continued to be inhabited by middle-class Kingston families until it was purchased by Parks Canada in 1964 with the intention of commemorating Sir John A. Macdonald. Significant renovations had been performed in the intervening century, including the addition of electricity, indoor plumbing, and central heating, as well as changes to

529-455: Was the home to Canada 's first Prime Minister , Sir John Alexander Macdonald from 1848 to 1849. The house is located in Kingston , Ontario . 44°13′22″N 76°30′12″W  /  44.22278°N 76.50333°W  / 44.22278; -76.50333 Bellevue House was constructed around 1840 for Charles Hales, a wealthy Kingston merchant who profited greatly from the prosperous decade of

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