The History of Mackie Lake House
A storied piece of Okanagan history, dating back to the early 1900s.
The History of Mackie Lake House
Mackie Lake House was designed and built in 1910 by Montreal-based architect Robert Findlay. Rupert Charles Buchanan, a businessman from Montreal, commissioned Findlay to build the house for the Buchanan family. Findlay was renowned for his designs for Montreal’s affluent merchants and industrialists.
Tendered by local firm Bell & Constant and built by local contractor T.E. Crowell, the house was one of the finest private homes in the Okanagan.
The house was designed in high-style Arts and Crafts architecture with a unique eastern Canadian influence. The exterior is clad with stucco and board-and-batten siding, with distinctive bellcast roof edges supported on scroll cut brackets. The four tall chimneys and the high chateau roof give the house a commanding presence.
Pictured above: Hugh, Grace and Augustine (August) Mackie (or, “The Triumvirate”, as they were called)
A Family Home
When the Buchanans moved to Vancouver after the First World War, the house was sold to the Layton family from Norfolk, England. The Laytons became an integral part of the Coldstream community over the next 15 years.
Hugh and Grace Mackie, along with Hugh’s brother, the Reverend Augustine Mackie, established the Vernon Preparatory School for boys in Coldstream in 1913. The school adhered to British custom and culture, and was greatly appreciated by the English pioneers who settled in the area. The Mackies became friends of the Laytons and visited the house often.
With the outbreak of the Second World War and the break-up of the Layton family in 1940, the Laytons sold the house to the Mackies, who made the house their full-time residence after retiring from the Vernon Preparatory School in 1946. The classic lakeside house was an ideal setting for Hugh, Grace and Austin to pursue their interests in farming and gardening into retirement.
The Legacy Lives On
Today, Mackie Lake House is beautifully preserved inside and out, and retains many of its original features. On a tour of the house, you will encounter the story of the Mackie family up-close, and enjoy the extraordinary furnishings and collections lovingly preserved by Patrick Fylton Mackie, the youngest son of Hugh and Grace Mackie, and the final owner of the house.
Patrick (Paddy) Mackie (1922-1999) lived in the house continually from 1955 to 1999. Paddy was something of a renaissance man. During the Second World War, he served as a navigation officer on a corvette with the Royal Canadian Navy in the North Atlantic. After the war, he studied at UBC, the Ontario College of Art and the Sorbonne in Paris.
Paddy loved the French language. He taught French at W.L. Seaton Secondary in Vernon for 25 years. As historian Ken Mather notes, Paddy’s “natural flare for the dramatic” made him a highly popular teacher.
Paddy was also an accomplished watercolorist, a potter, a fine pianist and flautist, and a naturalist and historian. One of the great joys in Paddy’s life was music. Early in his time at the house, he hosted musical evenings for music lovers.
In 1993, Paddy established the Mackie Lake House Foundation. Paddy himself offered the first guided tours of the property. Upon his death in 1999, Paddy gifted the Mackie Lake House to the Foundation to preserve the legacy of the Mackie Lake House for the education and enjoyment of generations to come.
“Paddy was well known for his involvement with cultural and historical organizations. He was instrumental in the establishment of the Vernon Community Music School, was a past-president of the North Okanagan Naturalists Club, and was involved with Amnesty International. He was also an ardent volunteer at the Vernon Museum, and served as a director of the local art gallery.”
To learn more about the history of Mackie Lake House, Book a Tour or check out our Books & Resources page.
Pictured above: Patrick Fylton Mackie