Australia House (Ottawa)

Australia House in Ottawa

Australia House in Ottawa, Canada is the residence of the Australian high commissioner to Canada. The house is located at 407 Wilbrod St. in the Sandy Hill neighbourhood of Ottawa, near to a number of other embassies and residences. The house was built in 1910 by William Davis, and is believed to have been designed by John W.H. Watts. Davis died under inauspicious circumstances in 1916 and it lay vacant for several years before being purchased by Colonel Cameron Macpherson Edwards, who had earlier lived at 24 Sussex Drive. The Edwards left in 1937 and rented the house to Germany to house the Consul General Dr. Erich Windels. Despite a friendship that developed between Windels and Canadian Prime Minister William Lyon Mackenzie King, who lived nearby, Windels was expelled from Canada upon the declaration of war in September 1939.

In part because of the war, the Australian delegation in Ottawa was looking for more spacious accommodations, and the newly vacant building met these needs. In 1940 it became the residence of the high commissioner and they bought the building from the Edwards soon after. It has housed every high commissioner since as well as visiting Australian dignitaries, including any Australian Prime Ministers who visit Ottawa. From 1947 until 1953 the building was home to ex-prime minister Francis Forde.