By Madeline Kerr

A piece of Canadian history in the heart of Gatineau Park continues to stand empty, despite a dedicated search to find the right tenant. 

The National Capital Commission (NCC) says it is continuing to search for a “suitable partner to help preserve and animate” O’Brien House, which is located on the shore of Meech Lake in Chelsea. The heritage site has only been occupied for a handful of the last 60 years. 

The NCC recently told the Low Down it would like to see the 95-year-old building used for “a boutique hotel, a bed and breakfast, a restaurant, a wellness centre or any other innovative use.” 

The former home of John Ambrose O’Brien, founding owner of the Montreal Canadiens and founder of the National Hockey Association (a predecessor to the National Hockey League), O’Brien House was designed “in the grand style of Queen Anne Revival” by architect Werner Noffke in 1930. He’s perhaps best known for designing the Central Post Office building, which is situated on the western edge of Confederation Square at the end of Sparks Street, across from the National War Memorial (the one with the clock) in Ottawa.

In 1964, the NCC acquired the O’Brien building, which was recognized by the Federal Heritage Buildings Review Office in 1984.

In 2024 the Low Down reported that the annual market rent of the O’Brien House was $144,000. The caretaker property could be leased for an extra $2,450 per month, plus property taxes estimated at just over $6,000 for the year. 

In 2016, Bob Milling, then owner of the Wakefield Mill, signed a five-year lease to operate a boutique hotel out of the historic building and opened it in April of 2018 after extensive renovations, paid for in part by Milling and the NCC. The total renovation amount was $3.9 million, according to the NCC. 

But things didn’t work out. Milling told the Low Down in 2019 that the boutique hotel model was not “economically sustainable.”