Description of Historic Place

Situated in the grounds of Rideau Hall, the Rideau Hall: Cricket Clubhouse is a picturesque wood structure designed with Queen Anne Revival details. It has a two-storey tower, ornate millwork and an expansive verandah from where to follow the game. The designation is confined to the footprint of the building.

Heritage Value

The Rideau Hall: Cricket Clubhouse was designated Recognized because of its unchanged historical relationship with the distinguished landscape at Rideau Hall; its relationship with the present character of the site containing the playing field; and its very good functional design within the context of this type of delightful and attractive structure, normally associated with an almost-disappeared aspect of Canadian cultural heritage.

The Rideau Hall: Cricket Clubhouse is suggestive of the Queen Anne Revival style of recreational buildings popular from the 1880s until the Great War. It is sheathed with vertical board and batten, with an inset verandah flanked on the north by an octagonal corner tower, and on the south by an extended gable with decorative millwork incorporating the initials of the Ottawa Cricket Club.

Sources:
Robert Hunter, Rideau Hall and Landscaped Grounds National Historic Site, Rideau Hall: Cricket Clubhouse, Ottawa, Ontario, Federal Heritage Building Review Office Building Report 86-024; Cricket Pavilion (Clubhouse), Ottawa, Ontario, Heritage Character Statement, 86-024.

Character-Defining Elements

The heritage character of the Rideau Hall: Cricket Clubhouse is determined by:
-its surviving exterior materials and form;
-its continuous function as a clubhouse;
-its physical relationship with the historic playing field at Canada's vice-regal estate;
-the limited use of ornate millwork on the building’s exterior;
-the two-storey tower and the sheltered verandah;
-the prominent siting between the west fence and the cricket field.