The Building of Bellevue House Early in the 1840s, Charles
Hales, a prosperous merchant, built Bellevue House on a nine
acre lot in the Township of Kingston. The lot was located about
one mile to the west of the town of Kingston in an area known as
the "Western Liberties". This suburb was a desirable residential
area: between 1830 and 1860 more than thirty large houses, or
villas as they were called, each on an extensive plot of land,
were constructed in the area. A number of them survive,
including Barberry Cottage and Otterburn, some still possessed
of extensive, well-landscaped grounds. Burberry Cottage, Centre
Street, c. 1853 ©Parks Canada / Kim Burke Otterburn, Centre
Street, c. 1840 ©Parks Canada / Kim Burke The building of
Bellevue House was part of an interesting social phenomenon
taking place in many of Canada's towns in this period.
Previously it had been normal for a merchant like Hales or a
professional man like John A. Macdonald to live close to his
place of business. Hales' store, for example, w