Government House (British Columbia)

Infobox Historic building
name = Government House

---

caption = Main façade of Government House
map_type =
latitude = 48.418364
longitude = -123.341199
location_town = 1401 Rockland Avenue
Victoria, British Columbia
location_country = Canada
architect =
client = The Queen in Right of British Columbia
(Elizabeth II)
engineer =
construction_start_date = 1957
date_demolished =
cost =
structural_system = Reinforced concrete
owner = The Queen in Right of British Columbia
(Elizabeth II)
style = Modern Tudor revival
size =

British Columbia's Government House is the official residence of the Lieutenant Governor of British Columbia. It is located in Victoria, British Columbia.

History

The first vice-regal residence in the area was Cary Castle, built in 1860 by George Hunter Cary, and purchased for use as the residence of the Governor of Vancouver Island in 1865. After the two colonies of Vancouver Island and British Columbia joined in 1866, the house became the official residence of the new united colony's Governor, and from 1871 onwards the residence of the provincial Lieutenant Governor (the Mainland Colony's Government House was in New Westminster). Cary Castle was destroyed by fire in 1903, and a replacement was immediately built. However, this house too burnt down in 1957, after which the current Government House was constructed, integrating the original porte cochère of the previous house. The present house was completed on May 19, 1959.

The Lieutenant Governor's residence is where the Canadian Royal Family and visiting foreign dignitaries are greeted. Inside are also reception rooms, offices and support facilities; the Lieutenant Governor's office is the site of swearing-in ceremonies for Cabinet ministers, where Royal Assent is granted, and where the Lieutenant Governor receives the Premier. Among many public receptions and garden parties held annually, the Lieutenant-Governor's New Years Day Levèe remains a popular and well-attended highlight of the holiday season in Victoria.

ee also

* Monarchy in British Columbia
* History of British Columbia
* List of Lieutenant-Governors of British Columbia
* Government Houses of Canada
* Government Houses of the British Empire

External links

* [http://www.ltgov.bc.ca/ Lieutenant Governor of British Columbia]
* [http://www.bcarchives.gov.bc.ca/exhibits/jubilee/mpegs/medium/aaaa2605a.mpg British Columbia Archives: Video of the Royal Suite at Government House in 1939]