Government House

Designed by Thomas Fuller, architect of the Parliament Buildings in Ottawa, Government House in Regina opened in 1891 as residence, office and entertainment facility for the Lieutenant-Governors of the North-West Territories. After 1905, it was the residence of the Lieutenant-Governors of Saskatchewan. In 1945 the CCF government of T.C. Douglas closed the House as an economy measure; from 1946-57 the property was leased to the federal government as a centre for disabled war veterans; and from 1958, as “Saskatchewan House,” the facility was used by the province for adult Education. It was designated a National Historic Site in 1968. A volunteer “Saskatchewan House Committee” (later the Government House Historical Society) campaigned for preservation of the House, which was declared a provincial historic site in 1971. Restoration by the province between 1978 and 1980 converted the facility into “Government House Heritage Property”: a museum of the 1900 period under Lieutenant-Governor Amédée Forget, and a hospitality facility for government and non-profit organizations. In 1984 the Office of the Lieutenant-Governor returned. Construction of a visitor/administration centre and coach house and restoration of the grounds to the 1905 Edwardian gardens were undertaken for the provincial centennial in 2005.

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Further Reading

Hryniuk, M. and G. Pugh. 1991. “A Tower of Attraction”: An Illustrated History of Government House, Regina, Saskatchewan. Regina: Government House Historical Society/Canadian Plains Research Center.