It was formerly the residence of two Canadian prime ministers: Sir Wilfrid Laurier (for whom the house is named) and William Lyon Mackenzie King.

[1] The home is now a historic house museum that is open to the public for guided tours from Victoria Day in May until Thanksgiving in October.

Instead, 24 Sussex Drive—a property the Crown had acquired a few years earlier through expropriation—was selected and designated as the prime minister's official residence in 1951.

Many distinguished guests of Canada were received at this house, such as King George VI, Sir Winston Churchill,[1] Charles de Gaulle, Franklin D. Roosevelt,[1] and others.

Under the terms of the Laurier House Act 1951, the home and its grounds were entrusted to the National Capital Commission (NCC), the Department of Public Works, and Library and Archives Canada.