Description of Historic Place

Portsmouth Community Correctional Centre is located in a residential suburb of Kingston. It is a picturesque, Italianate residence that sits in generous, mature grounds. The two-storey, stone building has a shallow hipped-roof with wide eaves and large flanking brick chimneys. Its façade features a projecting gabled frontispiece accented at the second-storey level by paired round-headed windows surmounted by a bull’s eye. The quality of the building’s decorative program is evident in its masonry details, which include corner pilasters, quoins and dressed-stone surrounds. The designation is confined to the footprint of the building.

Heritage Value

Portsmouth Community Correctional Centre is a Recognized Federal Heritage Building because of its historical associations, and its architectural and environmental value.

Historical Value
Portsmouth Community Correctional Centre, originally constructed as a country estate for Kingston merchant and politician John Flanigan, is associated with the villa movement in Upper Canada. Country villas derived from the Picturesque movement in Britain and were popular in North America between 1830 and 1860. Portsmouth Community Correctional Facility consisted of a 120-acre farm, with fourteen acres of gardens and lawns framing the villa in the picturesque manner. Throughout history Portsmouth Correctional Facility has served as a residence and currently houses inmates on community release programs.

Architectural Value
Portsmouth Community Correctional Centre is valued for its very good aesthetic qualities designed in the classical Italianate style. It is a worthy representative of the villa movement in Upper Canada, whereby the well-to-do moved into spacious suburban or rural residences designed in the Picturesque manner. The building is characterized by its classical symmetry, masonry surface treatments and by the elegant simplicity of its decorative vocabulary. The building’s good functional design is evidenced in its classically inspired center hall plan. Noteworthy for the quality craftsmanship of its masonry work, the building is constructed of limestone blocks in a variety of shades, laid in irregular courses and with smooth cut limestone dressing and a rich range of decorative details. The building is an elaborate example of this housing type and includes a broad range of architectural motifs typically found on the urban and suburban residential work of its architect, William Coverdale.

Environmental Value
Portsmouth Community Correctional Centre is compatible with the picturesque character of its residential suburb setting. The building is a neighbourhood landmark.

Sources: Dana Johnson, Portsmouth Community Correctional Centre (Portsmouth Correctional Facility), Kingston, Ontario, Federal Heritage Buildings Review Office, Building Report, 91-026; Portsmouth Community Correctional Centre (Portsmouth Correctional Facility), Kingston, Ontario, Heritage Character Statement, 91-026.

Character-Defining Elements

The character-defining elements of Portsmouth Community Correctional Centre should be respected.

Its very good classical Italianate style, good functional design and good craftsmanship and materials, for example:
- the two-storey massing that consists of a rectangular block with a shallow hipped roof, wide overhanging eaves, the large flanking brick chimneys, and a large rear addition of compatible design and materials;
- the stone masonry construction that consists of cream and tan toned, hammer-dressed limestone blocks laid in irregular courses;
- the balanced façade clasped by simple stone piers accented by quoins at the corners and by stone chimneys along the sides;
- the projecting gabled frontispiece, accented at the second storey level by paired round-headed windows surmounted by a bull’s eye;
- the main entrance located on the frontispiece and consisting of a broad door with side and fan lights set within an over-scaled arched surround of smoothly dressed stone which is enclosed by a storm porch;
- the fenestration, which is emphasized by flat arches and smoothly finished lugsills on the ground floor, the double arched openings and distinctive bracketed lugsills above;
- the interior centre hall plan, traditional circulation patterns and woodwork and finishes.

The manner in which Portsmouth Community Correctional Centre is compatible with the picturesque character of its residential suburban neighbourhood setting and is a familiar landmark, as evidenced by:
- its overall scale, picturesque design and materials that complement the residential suburban neighbourhood;
- its familiarity within the neighbourhood due to its recognition by the community as a building of historic importance.