Guisachan House

Guisachan House was built as a summer home for the Earl and Countess of Aberdeen in 1891. Guisachan – Land of the Firs was the name chosen for their new home. The new Canadian estate drew its name from a family-estate in Inverness-shire Scotland.   Designed in the Indian colonial bungalow style it became the focal point of a 480 acre working ranch. The ranch became the site of the first large-scale planting of fruit trees and hops in the Okanagan valley. The Aberdeens developed and invested in their adopted country and encouraged many of their English countrymen to settle in the Okanagan. Lord Aberdeen served as Governor General of Canada from 1893 – 1896.

In 1986, Guisachan became a Kelowna City Park. The restoration of the house was undertaken by the Central Okanagan Heritage Society, in conjunction with the City of Kelowna in 1987.

Today Guisachan House serves as a restaurant and is a popular location for weddings, receptions, and various types of functions.

Cameron Gardens

The 2.5 acre Edwardian gardens, established by Elaine Cameron have been restored to their 1920s splendor, with information provided in Mrs. Cameron’s journals and photographs.

The Cameron family purchased the Guisachan property in 1903 and operated a dairy farm. Paddy and Elaine Cameron lived on the property for 81 years. Guisachan Ranch was an important part of Kelowna’s social and cultural life for many years and was noted for its gymnasium and equestrian events.

The gardens have been resurrected with the planting of more than a 100 roses, and 50 species of trees and shrubs, some 100 different perennials as well as dozens of herbs and annuals.

The Park besides its beauty has an aura of mystery. It is said that on nights when the moon is full, the clip-clop, clip-clop of horse’s hooves and the sound of buggy wheels may be heard echoing through the avenue of hundred year old cedar trees which adjoins the Park.

Today Cameron Gardens is a popular destination to stroll through perennial gardens. Each season brings with it new delights of color and scent.

The Milk Shed

The Milk Shed was built by the Cameron Family as part of their dairy operations. The Milk Shed is currently the office for the Central Okanagan Heritage Society, as well as an exhibition site for historical pieces from the Aberdeen and Cameron families.

McDougall House

John McDougall the patriarch of a large first-nations family built the house in 1886. It was the third home built, and the finest one on the Guisachan site, when the Aberdeens bought the ranch in 1891.

When the Aberdeens visited the ranch for the first time in 1891, Lady Aberdeen wrote in her journal;

“…….many tales of the wild doings of these McDougalls were told to us. A testimony to the truth of some of these was to be seen in the marks of the pistol shots with which the walls and ceiling of the house were riddled.”

With the growth in Kelowna in the 1980’s the McDougall house was found to be in the middle of a piece of land which was to be developed into Gordon Road. The square cut timber house was taken apart, each log numbered, and put back together on a new foundation at its present location in Guisachan Heritage Park. Today McDougall House is used as a revenue generating property for the Society