Arbour covered with roses.
View from inside the gated garden.
reacquired by the city. This was the way matters stood until the Lougheed House Conservation Society was created in 1995. The society successfully spearheaded the project to restore the estate, which was completed with the formal re-opening in 2005. Great care has been taken to restore the property to its Victorian and Edwardian splendour. Furnishing and artifacts, including some of the home’s original contents, recreate the look and feel of the home when the Lougheeds resided here. There are few written descriptions of the garden during
the Lougheeds’ time, so old photographs were used when possible to fill in the details. Aerial photos circa 1925 helped verify the locations of trees and larger gardens. Luckily the apartments on the east half of the property were demolished in the 1980s and never replaced, so the east half of the estate was reacquired by the city. A decision still had to be made about historical accu-
Part of the chldren’s garden.
racy — replication versus renovation; the needs of a 20th century family home versus the needs of a 21st century public park. Times had changed so the property had to change. For example, parking in the inner city is scarce, so part of the site became a parking lot. In a stroke of absolute genius, the landscape architect placed the park- ing lot where the stables used to be, so today’s visitors park their vehicles where the Lougheeds “parked” their horses! The original shelterbelt, a tightly meshed wall of spruce
meant to provide privacy, has been replaced with a single well-spaced row of spruce. This allows visitors a sense of enclosure while still leaving the park open and bright. Wheelchair access is an issue that the Lougheeds
Perennial favourites. 36 • Fall 2016
didn’t need to consider. Today, sloping pathways to the formal garden allow access for all. The original wooden balustrades in the garden have been replaced with more durable concrete replicas. Shrub and flower beds have been added to the formal garden. An array of annuals and the Parkland rose, Morden Blush, provide continu- ous bloom. Other dependable bloomers include Donald
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