Lord Jim of Dilling - Diplomat Magazine

DELIGHTS|residencesThe home that Keefer builtAllan Keefer was the architect for many diplomatic residences including those of the Austrian, Spanish,Argentinean, Japanese, Indonesian and Egyptian ambassadorsJennifer CampbellDyanne WilsonThe home of Swedish Ambassador Ingrid Iremark, and her husband, Thomas Thornquist, is an elegant Rockcliffe manor with a dynamite view of theOttawa River.The stately brick home with a commandingview of the Ottawa Rivermay not look it from the outside, butinside it’s a showcase for Swedish furnishingsand art.“This is not our home, it is Sweden’shome,” says Ingrid Iremark, ambassadorof Sweden, who lives at 700 Manor Ave.with her husband, Thomas Thornquist.Early in her tenure in Ottawa, two designersfrom the foreign ministry visitedthe residence for a couple of days and cameup with ideas for new furnishings and art.“They made some suggestions and wehad some say,” Ms. Iremark said. “I don’tlove everything here but I think it functionswell. We have light furniture andit’s easy to take away when we have largefunctions, which we do often.”The same week Diplomat visited, they34had hosted a piano recital and fundraiserand that meant making room for a grandpiano. The home is well-suited for biggroups as its usual furnishings are arrangedin small sitting areas, leaving lotsof open space.The large receiving room in the middleof the home has a fireplace to the left andtwo sitting areas. There’s a cozy diningroom for six or eight facing the front of thehome, and a large dining room along theback, with huge picture windows overlookingthe river.For sit-down dinners, the large diningroom can accommodate 22 guests andfeatures a hutch that dates back to the 18thcentury. It’s been restored and paintedred, which would have been its originalcolour. While it emphatically declares itsantiquity, there are also modern accents inthis bright room, including a mushroomshapedpale blue curiosity that is kneehighfrom the floor.“I think residences should have thiskind of thing,” Ms. Iremark said of thepiece which was recently created bySwedish artist Anders Ruhwald and haswhat looks like a sink drain in the top.“People sometimes wonder if you shouldput a candle (in the drain).”To the left of the main receiving room,there’s another, smaller sitting room, withanother big window. There’s also a prettysun room with tiled floors, and a suitablydark-walled study. The latter was an additionto the original 1913 home, built forThomas Coltrin Keefer Jr., grandson ofengineer T.C. Keefer, who had originallysubdivided Rockcliffe Park Village in 1864.Keefer Jr.’s architect was his brother, Allan,SPRING 09 | APR–JUN