The Heritage Tea Room In A Manitoba Historic Grand Home

The Heritage Tea Room in the historic Captain Kennedy House in St. Andrews, Manitoba, Canada

Located in the veranda of the historic Captain Kennedy House, The Heritage Tea Room in St. Andrews, Manitoba is a beautiful spot for a breakfast, brunch, lunch, or High Tea. The stone walls provide a sense of history. Floor-to-ceiling windows create a light, airy feeling and look out over the peaceful grounds with mature trees along the bank of the Red River.

Tea room in a closed-in veranda with walls of windows looking out over trees and riverbank and containing tables with glass-topped white tablecloths

The Captain William Kennedy House, originally known as Maple Grove, was constructed in 1866 for Métis community leader and Arctic explorer Captain William Kennedy (1814–1890). Born to a Scottish father and a Cree mother, he was a Chief Factor of the Hudson’s Bay Company. He and his wife Eleanor, a music teacher who was well-respected in the community, had 9 children. After Kennedy’s death, his widow was forced to sell the house to cover his debts. The house had three owners after the Kennedys before the Province of Manitoba purchased it in 1980. They did some restoration work to the house. They recreated the 1920s English gardens and placed interpretive plaques outdoors. They removed the 1950s porch and added a glass veranda to provide space for a tea room. That tea room was called Captain Kennedy Tea House.

I had enjoyed a couple of visits to that tea house and was disappointed when it closed in 2015. An engineering report showed major structural problems with the building. Repairs were undertaken in phases and fully completed in 2026 A new tea room opened.

Wide wood-framed doorway in a wall-papered wall of an old house leads to a small room and through that to a closed-in veranda with tea room dining tables — *Main area of house leads to dining veranda*

The menu features breakfast and brunch items. There is an impressive selection of teas and lattes to choose from. High Tea with finger sandwiches, fresh fruit, scones, and pastries is also available.

My three friends and I each chose a different lunch item. We all enjoyed our choices. The setting was lovely. I will say, however, the room does get noisy.

The Heritage Tea Room is open Wednesdays and Thursdays from 8 am to 3 pm. On Fridays through Sundays it is open from 8 am to 9 pm. There is a special Tea Till Dusk menu after 4 pm on those days.

Reservations are needed. The tea room has proved to be a popular spot.

A cafe bar area in an older building featuring wood framed windows and wallpapered walls

A Café Bar in the front entrance area sells coffee and tea and a collection of local products. A Grab & Go menu has take-out selections which include a few of the savoury items on the eat-in menu, salads, sweets, and picnic lunch options.

Because the veranda isn’t insulated, the tea room closes for the winter, generally after the end of October. However, in 2026, it is possible it may stay open beyond that. Because an El Niño winter with milder weather is predicted, our server said they are hoping to stay open until late December, if weather permits.

Path through trees at the side of a historic stone house with interpretive signs lining the path

You may wish to wander through the gardens before or after eating. It was raining the day my friends and I had lunch so we skipped the garden stroll. Below are a few pictures I took when I visited the garden in early summer a couple of years earlier. (Although the house was closed at the time for repairs, the gardens were still maintained and open for viewing.)

The Heritage Tea Room is located at 417 River Road in the Rural Municipality of St. Andrews, which is just north of Winnipeg, Manitoba’s capital city. River Road is a scenic drive rich with history. The River Road Heritage Parkway Route, which runs for 11 kilometres along that road, includes several historic stopping points with interpretative signage and river views. Kennedy House is one of those stopping points. To learn more about the route, read my post Southern Manitoba’s Red River Heritage Parkway.

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