24 Sussex Drive near Parliament Hill, although the prime minister does conduct some work in 24 Sussex and informal meetings between the prime minister and other government or foreign officials may take place in the residence (foreign heads of state on state visits are officially hosted by the monarch or Governor General of Canada at Rideau Hall). One consequence of the building's lack of official bureaucratic functions is that "24 Sussex Drive" has never been widely used as a metonym for the Office of the Prime Minister. Despite the building not having any bureaucratic function, it has been the location of protests, such
Harrington Lake who bought property here in 1867. The retreat is accessed by Chemin de Lac Meech with a gatehouse, staffed by the Royal Canadian Mounted Police Protective Policing Service, at the driveway of the retreat. The Prime Minister's motorcade accesses Harrington Lake from Ottawa via Quebec Autoroute 5. Several families came in the 19th century to settle the Harrington Lake area, including the Harrington and the Mousseau families. The lake eventually became known as "Harrington Lake" in English and "lac Mousseau" in French. The Mousseau family had built a farm on the shores of the lake, which remained in the family