Canada 2016 - Kelowna - Guisachan Heritage Park

Guisachan House was built as a summer home for the Earl and Countess of Aberdeen in 1891, named as "Land of the Firs". It 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 and 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, and the restoration of the house was undertaken by the Central Okanagan Heritage Society, in conjunction with the City of Kelowna, in 1987.