Château Montebello

Harold Saddlemire, an American developer, built this in 1930 as a private club: around ten thousand western red cedar logs shipped from British Columbia, raised in four months by about three thousand five hundred workers, many of them Scandinavian axemen, in a hexagonal plan around a six-sided stone fireplace that rises through the atrium. It is generally described as the largest log building in the world. The club took in a wealthy membership and the hotel later passed to the CP chain. It has hosted a G7 summit and NATO meetings, which is why it is sometimes called the log château diplomacy took over.

History

François de Laval, the first Bishop of Quebec, bought this land in 1674 from the French East India Company, the Quebec Seminary inherited it, and in 1801 it was sold to the family of Joseph Papineau, whose son Louis-Joseph built the turreted stone Manoir Papineau. In the late 1920s Harold M. Saddlemire acquired the site for a private wilderness retreat, the Seigniory Club; work began in early 1930 despite the Wall Street crash, a spur from the Canadian Pacific line brought in the red cedar logs, and 3,500 labourers under the Finnish master-builder Victor Nymark finished it in four months, in time for the opening on 1 July 1930 (Wikipedia, Fairmont Le Château Montebello).

What to look for

• The log atrium - a hexagonal hall around a six-sided stone fireplace.
• The scale - around ten thousand red cedar logs in one building.
• The 1930 construction story - four months, 3,500 workers, Scandinavian axemen.
• The summit history - a venue for G7 and NATO meetings.

When to go

Year-round; the hotel operates in all seasons and winter suits the fireplace and the log interior. Public access is for guests and restaurant patrons rather than general sightseeing.

What to expect

It is a working hotel, not a museum, and casual visitors are not encouraged beyond the lobby. Rates are high. Parc Oméga next door is a separate paid attraction.

Nearby

Parc Oméga adjoins; Ottawa lies west.

Key facts