Description of Historic Place

The VIP Private Married Quarters, also known as Building 42, is located close to the Parade Ground and Officers’ Mess in an ensemble of large, detached suburban-type houses at Canadian Forces Base (CFB) Trenton. The house is a large, two-storey, rectangular structure with a pitched roof and dormer windows, a garage and a rear sun lounge. Its walls are clad in white-painted stucco and its main façade features a large entrance gable. The designation is confined to the footprint of the building.

Heritage Value

The VIP Private Married Quarters is a Recognized Federal Heritage Building because of its historical associations, and its architectural and environmental values.

Historical Value
The VIP Private Married Quarters is associated with the development of Canada’s principal Air Force training base, CFB Trenton, in the late 1920s and 1930s.

Architectural Value
The VIP Private Married Quarters is valued for its good aesthetic and functional design. It exhibits a late 1930s architectural form with Tudor Revival elements and details typical of middle class suburban housing of this period. The house is functional in planning, clean in detailing and finishes, and reflects the design aesthetic and construction methods favoured by the Royal Canadian Air Force for senior officer’s housing in this period. Very good craftsmanship is evident throughout.

Environmental Value
The VIP Married Quarters maintains an unchanged relationship with its site. It was a key component of the base’s original planning and is part of an ensemble of large, detached suburban-type houses for senior officers located on a cul-de-sac to the east side of the base’s grid plan. The house reinforces the residential character of its suburban, park-like setting on the base and is a well-known building in the area.

Source: VIP Married Quarters, Building 42, CFB Trenton, Trenton, Ontario, Heritage Character Statement, 95-032.

Character-Defining Elements

The character-defining elements of the VIP Private Married Quarters should be respected.

Its good aesthetic and functional design and very good materials and craftsmanship, for example:
- the two-storey, asymmetrical massing and rectilinear footprint, which includes a garage with room above and a rear sun lounge;
- the pitched roof with dormers and chimney;
- the large, asymmetrical projecting entrance gable with stained wood fascia boards;
- the applied Tudor Revival elements such as simple lines, white-painted stucco surfaces, and the painted wood sash windows with metal railings and doors;
- the interior planning, volumes, stairs, finishes, trim, doors and frames as well as the fireplaces complete with ironmongery, the stair balustrades, the bathroom tiling and the radiators.

The manner in which the VIP Married Quarters maintains an unchanged relationship to its site, reinforces the residential character of its suburban park-like setting at CFB Trenton and is a well-known landmark, as evidenced by:
- its ongoing relationship with its landscaped site, the crescent, the Parade Ground and Officer’s Mess;
- its overall scale, massing, and materials, which harmonize with the adjacent detached, suburban-type houses;
- its visibility owing to its large scale and prominent location close to the Parade Ground and Officers’ Mess, which makes it a well known building at the base.