Maplelawn

Maplelawn is an historic house and former estate located in Ottawa, Canada. The house was built between 1831 an 1834 as the centre of a farming estate by the Thomson family. In 1877 the Cole family bought the estate and lived there until 1989. The house is now owned by the National Capital Commission and it is a designated national historic site. It is particularly noted for the well preserved and rare walled garden next to the house, The Maplelawn Garden. Since 1999 the Maplelawn has been the location of the Keg Manor restaurant. Today the house is located in Westboro at 529 Richmond Road.The architecture of the house reflects a taste for British classicism, but some elements, such as the windows, are in a more local style, favoured in Quebec and the Ottawa Valley. The walled garden is a very rare feature for a Canadian farming estate. Although highly prized in Europe, they were never widespread in Canada. It was intended to be both ornamental and useful.HistoryAround 1818 William Thomson, a gentleman of Scottish origin, retired from the British army and settled the 200acre farm on the road leading from Bytown to the village of Richmond. Thomson and his sons focused on the farming operations of their estate, but also invested peripherally in the lumber trade.