A National Historic Site in the Beltline — Sir James Lougheed's 1891 sandstone mansion with restored interiors, formal gardens, a tea-room cafe, and a serious year-round exhibitions program.
Lougheed House occupies a full Beltline block on 13 Avenue SW, bounded by 6 Street and 7 Street, and the site predates most of the neighbourhood around it. Sir James Lougheed (grandfather of premier Peter Lougheed) and his wife Isabella Hardisty Lougheed built the sandstone mansion in 1891 and called it Beaulieu; over the following decades it served as the family home, a Red Cross convalescent hospital in WWII, a women's military training centre, and a federal blood-donor clinic before it was restored as a National and Provincial Historic Site and opened to the public in 2005.
The interpretive program centres on Isabella as much as James — she was a granddaughter of HBC chief factor William Lucas Hardisty and the social architect of the household. Restored interiors on the main and upper floors carry the Lougheed-era story, while the lower level hosts rotating exhibitions on Calgary social history, design, women's history, and Indigenous and settler relationships in this part of the prairies. The exhibitions program is consistently strong and is the reason locals come back, not just visiting once.
The gardens are free, open year-round, and one of the best public green spaces in the Beltline. In summer they host concerts, markets, and the patio of the on-site cafe; in winter they're a place to walk through a quiet block when the rest of the neighbourhood feels too dense. The Restaurant at Lougheed House (also called Tea at Lougheed when set up for high-tea service) is one of the few proper sit-down meals you can have inside a Calgary historic house.
history and design readers, anyone planning a high-tea date, and Beltline locals looking for a quiet hour in the gardens.
you're hoping for a sprawling, multi-hour museum day — Lougheed House is intentionally focused.
House + current exhibit: 60-90 min. Add 60-90 min for tea service if you book it.
School-aged kids with patience for old houses can get into it — costumed programming runs on some weekends. Toddlers will lose interest quickly except in the gardens.
Street parking on 13 Avenue and 6 Street SW is metered and often free in this stretch of the Beltline; a small on-site lot serves visitors with mobility needs and tea reservations. The C-Train 4 Street SW station is a six-minute walk; Bus 3 along 4 Street SW gets even closer.
The main floor and gardens are accessible, with a ramp at the side entrance and accessible washrooms. Upper floors of the historic house are reachable only by the original staircase — accessibility there is limited.
A National Historic Site in the Beltline with restored Victorian interiors, rotating exhibitions on the second floor, and Beaulieu Gardens. The on-site Restaurant at Lougheed House is one of Calgary's better lunch spots.
An hour gets you the main-floor restored rooms, the current exhibition in the lower level, and a quick loop through the gardens. Skip the upper floors if you're tight.
Ninety minutes is the right length: do all three floors of the historic house, see the exhibition properly, sit in the gardens, and grab coffee at the cafe. Add another hour if you've booked tea.
Yes. The historic house and gardens are open to visitors year-round on most days, with reduced hours on some weekdays. The gardens are free; house admission carries a modest fee. Confirm current hours on lougheedhouse.com.
Adult admission to the house is around $13, with discounts for seniors, students, and youth; members are free and the gardens are always free. Tea service is a separate booking with its own per-person cost. Check the website for current prices.
Yes. Tea at Lougheed is a sit-down high-tea service held in the historic dining rooms on select days. It's bookable through the website and tends to sell out weekends, especially around holidays. Reserve well in advance.
Sir James Lougheed was a Calgary lawyer, senator, and federal cabinet minister; his wife Isabella Hardisty Lougheed was a granddaughter of HBC chief factor William Lucas Hardisty. They built Beaulieu (now Lougheed House) in 1891. Their grandson Peter Lougheed served as premier of Alberta from 1971 to 1985.
The main floor and gardens are accessible, with a ramp at the side entrance. The upper floors of the historic house are reachable only by the original staircase, which limits accessibility there. Accessible washrooms are available on the main floor.
Most visitors spend sixty to ninety minutes on the house and current exhibition. Add another hour or so if you've booked tea service. The gardens add as much or as little time as you like.
Yes. The formal gardens occupy most of the block and are open to the public year-round at no charge. They're one of the best green spaces in the Beltline.
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