Here he removed the wall between the drawing-room and the adjoining small room and enlarged the small room by pushing out its wall to incorporate a balcony. He thus made a spacious drawing-room out of the two rooms, and at the same time widened the bedroom above the small room by three or four feet. His re-building was on such an enterprising scale that he was considered by some to be the builder of Earnscliffe. The remnant of balcony which survived his alterations must have had a fine view towards Gatineau Point. It was probably after the fire in 1874 that his roof was re-tiled.
Earlier pictures show a 'striped' roof, while later ones show a uniform colouring.
Sir John A. Macdonald found that, as Prime Minister, he needed a large study for himself and an ante-room for his private secretary in addition to the existing rooms. He added a spacious new dining-room to the east end of the house, where the long shed had been, built a back staircase, and made certain other additions on the river side. Reynolds' remnant of balcony was then removed. In the early years of the 20th century Mrs. Harriss built the terrace along the western and river sides of the house and made a balcony above the terrace. She also added the bow-window to the bedroom above the library.