A newspaper story published in mid September 1910 gushed about the new project and its location. The site for the new building comprises twenty-nine acres in what is admittedly the most attractive section of a city which, in the beauty of its situation, has been more highly favored by Mother Nature than any of the cities of the West. The Government House, which will be a structure not unworthy of its surroundings, will be set in spacious grounds on the brow of the hill commanding a wide-stretching view of the beautiful Saskatchewan valley with its lofty treeclad banks, providing a scene of unequalled loveliness.

The article went on to say that the new residence for the Lieutenant Governor would be erected near the western approach of the new Groat ravine bridge, being erected by the Dominion Bridge Company at a cost of $52,000 and due for completion January 1st, 1911. By agreement with the owners of the Glenora estate the city has undertaken to extend the street car system from the present terminal on Jasper Avenue to a point beyond that to be occupied by the new building, which will thus in a very short time be in easy communication with the business centre of the city.

Working under the direction of Allan Merrick Jeffers, the chief architect of the Legislative Buildings, Richard Palin Blakey prepared the design and plans for Government House. A history of the structure, compiled by former Provincial Archives of Alberta reference archivist Esther Kreisel, notes that Blakey devised a three-storey residence measuring 113 feet by 80 feet, with a steel and concrete frame and a foot-thick covering of Albertas best sandstone, hauled from a quarry near Calgary. It was designed in the Jacobean Revival style, which is characterized by bay windows, high gabled roofs with raised ends and groups of rectangular windows. At a time that most Edmonton buildings were wood framed or clad with locally fired bricks, the choice of sandstone set it building apart then and now. The massive house, along with the new sandstone Alberta Legislature Building, were intended to evoke a sense of European permanence in contrast to the ephemeral shacks, relatively speaking, that were so typical of the provinces early trading, farming and mining economy. So elaborate was the detailing and the stonework that skilled stonemasons were brought from Scotland to complete the project.

The original plans called for large conservatory, measuring 62 feet by 30 feet, filled with flowering plants to adjoin the mansion and a large ballroom wing. The conservatory got built but the ballroom did not, apparently because the first occupant, Lieutenant Governor George Hedley Vickers Bulyea, disapproved of dancing. With automobiles not yet in common use, a large stable was built for horses and carriages used to transport the Lieutenant Governor and his family.

Blakey, who also designed the Legislative Buildings staircase, rotunda and south wing, came up with a floor plan that balanced elegance with the efficiency required to accommodate large gatherings. The main floor included a drawing room, with semi-circular leaded light windows 15 and a half feet long, a large library, a dining room, servants, ladies and gents (wash) rooms, cloak room and secretarys office. Upstairs, there were seven bedrooms on the second floor and seven more on the third.

The entrance hall and lounge room were panelled in quartered oak, eight feet high. Elegant Jacobean period furnishings included fine reproductions of old needlework tapestry and the hall portieres were exact hand embroidered reproductions of curtains used in one of the rooms of Hampton Court Palace. The drawing room was furnished in Adams period style, while bedroom suites were furnished in Queen Anne Style, including a four poster bedstead.

As the Alberta Public Works Department commenced work on the project in 1910, Edmonton was in the midst of a fantastic boom and citizens watched the mammoth residence take shape with great interest. The August 24th, 1912 edition of the Edmonton Journal carried a story that reported 70 men had been working on the construction for three months and that the estimated completion cost was around $125,000.

Government House was officially opened on October 7th, 1913, by Lieutenant Governor Bulyea, who marked the occasion with a grand reception attended by hundreds of guests. The final tab came in at more than $345,882 with inflation of the time, more than triple the original budget.

The cost of construction was slightly more than $100,000 and the remainder of the money was gobbled up by the furnishings, the landscaping of the nearly 29 acres of grounds and construction of the garage and chauffeurs quarters.

It wasnt long afterwards that the First World War came along and with it financial restraint by government. Dissatisfaction over the cost of keeping what some viewed as needlessly ostentatious Government House running grew and, on March 30th, 1925, W.M. Davidson, an Independent Calgary MLA, introduced a motion that it be sold. The motion passed by a vote of 29 to 16.

The mansion was subsequently put on the market but only bid was received for its purchase. Four months after the motion was introduced, it was rescinded. But Government Houses troubles were only beginning.

Next week: A dust-up between the Lieutenant Governor and Premier set Government House on course to become a dormitory for servicemen and a home for disabled veterans.

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