An iconic building that houses the Fairmont Chateau Laurier Hotel, just steps from Canada’s Parliament in Ottawa is going on the block.
The landmark hotel was first opened in 1912 by Canada’s seventh prime minister, Sir Wilfrid Laurier.
It was conceived by Charles Melville Hays, an American who was the general manager of the Grand Trunk Pacific Railway of Canada. He wanted to extend the railway to Canada’s west coast. Along the route he wanted to build several train stations and luxury hotels.
ornate Chateau Laurier Hotel.
© Sean Kilpatrick/Canadian Press
No expense was spared to build the Chateau Laurier. Granite blocks, white Italian marble were materials used on the exterior. Antiques and a travertine marble staircase with brass railings graced the interior. The style combined French Renaissance with neo-Gothic.
Prime minister insulted
A bust of Laurier was created by renowned French sculptor, Paul Romaine Chevré but it was dropped and the nose was horribly chipped right before a private viewing by the prime minister.
Terribly insulted, Laurier nevertheless signed the hotel register as its first gets and the marble statue was repaired.
The hotel is now owned by the real-estate subsidiary of a large pension fund in the province of Quebec. It is being sold along with the Fairmont Washington hotel in Georgetown, D.C. in the United States. The two have an estimated value of $310 million.
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