The floating home that claimed an address next to the PM
In 1994, the 'Rockcliffe Boathouse' listed 24 1/2 Sussex Dr. as its address
In 1994, the so-called "Rockcliffe Boathouse" claimed the address 24 ½ Sussex Dr. — even though it was parked on the nearby Ottawa River.
But that's what Bernie Benac and Shirley Kent had listed as the address on the sign hanging from their floating restaurant and marina, which served as their home and seasonal business, when the CBC's Cory O'Kelly visited them on the frozen river in January 1994.
"It's a very nice place to be," said Benac, seated in a rocking chair beside his wife.
During warmer weather, the structure is parked in a more accessible location on the shore of the river.
Kent said their neighbour, then prime minister Jean Chrétien, had been curious enough to drop by a few months earlier.
"He came down this summer ... and he said he enjoyed it. He'd lived in Rockcliffe for many years and wanted to come and see the place," Kent said.
"He gave us nice compliments, so we hope he comes back."
O'Kelly explained to viewers that after vandals burned down the original structure, Benac and Kent built a replacement — the boathouse parked on the ice near the prime minister's house in 1994.
The Ottawa Citizen reported at that time that the couple had been given special permission to live there that winter, but Kent and Benac were unsure where their marina would be parked in the future.
But why were they actually living there — on the river, as opposed to on land, or the shore — during the winter?
"Bernie and Shirley are bucking the cold because their insurance company won't cover the house unless they live in it year-round," O'Kelly explained to CBC viewers.
It wasn't exactly easy living, as they did not have any hydro service in the middle of the river, nor easy access to any roads.
As O'Kelly showed viewers, a gas generator was powering their TV and lamps, while a wood stove was burning 24 hours a day to keep them warm.
One luxury was their pinball machine, which was powered by a series of large batteries. They also had a pool table.
But Kent said the noisy and random shifting of the ice was something they were still getting used to.
"It would be a loud crack, a loud 'boom' sound, like a faraway dynamite sound," she explained.
"It shakes the lampshades and the antenna on the top of the TV, it moves the plants. It wakes you up, it's such a big bang."
In 2018, the Rockcliffe Boathouse was again making news when the Ottawa Citizen reported that a sale of the business had stretched on for years, as a result of complicated issues involving the marina and its access to shore.
