160 Lisgar Road - Official Residence of the Norwegian Ambassador to Canada

After Clark’s death in 1901, his two unmarried daughters rented the house to Lord Dundonald, General Officer Commanding the Militia.  Dundonald stayed only a few years, falling afoul of the Laurier government over the issue of patronage in the military.  The next owner of Crichton Lodge was Minerva Rundle.  In 1911, she purchased the house for her daughter and son-in-law Aleph von Anrep.  Of aristocratic descent, von Anrep was an engineer with the Department of mines and an expert on peat.  In their day, Crichton Lodge, or Fridland, as they renamed it, was handsomely appointed in the style of the Edwardian era. 

In 1930, Fridland was bought by a prominent Ottawa physician, Dr. Theodore Howell Leggett, who renovated and enlarged the house.  Servants’ quarters were added, and the front entrance was moved forward and flanked by an attractive sunroom.  Dr. Leggett was president of the Canadian Medical Association, head of the Art Association of Ottawa and the Ottawa Housing and Planning Association, and prominent in the League of Nations Society of Canada.

The house has been carefully maintained since it was acquired in 1949.  At the time, the embassy had doubts about the suitability of Rockcliffe.  It was considered to be too far out of the city.  The embassy has  returned to the use of the original name of the house, Crichton Lodge.  A sign bearing the name, formerly in the possession of Jessie and Annie McLeod Clark, is now displayed in the entrance hall.

160 Lisgar Road has been designated a Heritage building under part 4 of the Ontario  Heritage Act.

Reference: Edmond, Martha (2005). Rockcliffe Park: A History of the Village. Ottawa: Friends of the Village of Rockcliffe Park Foundation. ISBN 0-9739356-0-X