Description of Historic Place

157-161 Queen Street consists of a two-storey stucco house, built circa 1828 and reflecting design elements associated with the Georgian architectural style. It sits at the northwest corner of Queen and Montreal Streets in downtown Kingston.

The property was designated under Part IV of the Ontario Heritage Act by the City of Kingston on June 8, 1981 (By-law 81-181).

Heritage Value

The house was built in approximately 1828 in the Georgian style. Containing three units entering onto the six bay front, this house follows the eastern downward slope of the street at the ground level thereby creating an elevated entry for each unit. The bell-cast roof extends beyond the face of the front wall to create a porch roof. The limestone foundation steps out to the front of the porch and is punctuated by six large segmented arched openings.

This property is most famously known as the John Power family home. Power was a prominent Kingston architect, who lived there with his family between 1868 and 1910. Power arrived in Kingston in 1846 and had experience as an architect in London, England. He designed a number of significant buildings in Kingston in the latter half of the nineteenth century. He also worked closely with William Coverdale, another important Kingston architect of the period. From 1865 onward, the Power family dominated the design of commercial architecture in Kingston. Power was responsible for designing buildings such as the Portsmouth Town Hall and the Irons Hotel.

161 Queen Street also served as the residence for local doctor E.W. Armstrong and Robert Deacon, a postmaster.

Sources: City of Kingston By-Law 81-181; City of Kingston “Buildings of Architectural and Historic Significance: Volume IV” (1977); City of Kingston File PLA-P18-309-2004; Jennifer McKendry, “With Our Past Before Us: Nineteenth-Century Architecture in the Kingston Area” (1995)

Character-Defining Elements

Character defining elements that support the heritage value of 157-161 Queen Street include the:
- stuccoed exterior
- six-bay front façade
- gable roof
- gallery with bell-cast roof, spanning the south and east walls
- two brick chimneys
- segmental arched stone arcade, with six arch openings, supporting the gallery
- wide flight of steps to the entrance of the gallery, located between the first and third arches, at the western end of the Queen Street façade
- three doors opening onto the gallery, with rectangular transoms
- two-bay façade on the north wall
- two small windows high under the gable on the east well
- sparse and irregular fenestration on the west wall