NCC seeks new operator for Meech Lake jewel O'Brien House
The mansion was build in the 1930s for J. Ambrose O'Brien, a Renfrew-born Industrialist who founded the Montreal Canadiens and the National Hockey Association, the precursor of the NHL.
Blair Crawford, Ottawa Citizen
Published Jan 17, 2024 • Last updated 4 hours ago • 3 minute read
The National Capital Commission is having another go at running its historic O’Brien House at Meech Lake as a boutique hotel … or a spa, or a bed and breakfast, or a restaurant, or a wellness centre …
In fact, the NCC will entertain “any other innovative use” for the nearly century-old cliff-side mansion so long as it’s compatible with commission plans for Gatineau Park and the national capital region “while preserving and showcasing the building’s heritage character and providing public access.”
“You talk about ‘location, location, location,'” said Bill Leonard, the NCC’s vice-president of real estate and development. “You’re 20 minutes from downtown Ottawa. You’re on Meech Lake for swimmers. You’re on the trails for walkers and cross-country skiers. You’re minutes from Camp Fortune. Its location is everything you could ask for.”
The mansion was build in the 1930s for J. Ambrose O’Brien, a Renfrew-born Industrialist who founded the Montreal Canadiens and the National Hockey Association, the precursor of the NHL. The NCC acquired the property in 1964 and it underwent a nearly $4-million renovation completed in 2018. It was run for nearly two years as a boutique hotel by Robert Milling and Lynn Berthiaume, operators of the Wakefield Mill, another NCC-owned building, but closed in 2019.
Leonard said the NCC and Milling and Berthiaume agreed to end their five-year lease for O’Brien House early because of a difference in business models. Milling and Berthiaume wanted to run it as a space for special events, while the NCC wants it to open for regular hotel and restaurant use.
Milling declined to comment for this story, but In a 2019 Facebook post said the hotel was “not financially sustainable as high operating costs exceeded revenues.”
That hiccup, followed by the COVID-19 pandemic, meant O’Brien House has sat unused for more than four years, but the NCC has been fielding more and more inquiries about the property, Leonard said. It issued a request for proposals just before Christmas.
“It has been on the market for the last three years, and we’ve been taking individual offers on a case-by-case basis because it had been really slow. But now there’s a critical mass building and we want to make sure there’s a formal process and that everything is on the up and up.”
The competition is set to close at the end of January, although that deadline may be extended, he said.
From its rocky hilltop location, O’Brien has a commanding view of Meech Lake and the surrounding Gatineau Hills. In the 2018 renovation, which was done with input from Milling and Berthiaume, the building was gutted to the studs and rebuilt to modern standards. The showpiece is a sun-drenched kitchen with views across the valley.
“The kitchen is probably the best work space that any chef will ever see,” Leonard said. “The intent behind the design is that we wanted to attract the best chefs to work here, so it has the best kitchen to work in.”
The renovations added an elevator to make the hotel accessible and 11 individually designed guest rooms, a large salon with a floor-to-ceiling stone fireplace and a wrap-around terrace with a stunning view overlooking Meech Lake.
A nearby caretaker’s house is also available for lease.
“We always envisioned that this could almost be a mom-and-pop type operation or managed by a couple, and proximity to the hotel is very important,” Leonard said. “The residential property is set aside so that, if an operator wanted to use that for onsite staff accommodation, they could.”
In the request for proposals, the NCC has identified the annual market rent for the property to be $144,000, with the caretaker’s house available for an additional $2,450 per month, plus an estimated property tax bill of $6,249.51.
O’Brien House and the Wakefield Mill are the only two hotels in Gatineau Park, Leonard said.
“It’s a wonderful hotel. I can’t imagine anyone who wouldn’t want to stay here,” he said. “If you want to enjoy Gatineau Park, you’ll want to stay here.”
https://ottawacitizen.com/news/local-news/ncc-seeks-new-operator-for-meech-lake-jewel-obrien-house
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