Goodwill House - Integrated Project Dossier (2014)

The building at 312 Laurier Avenue is located at the corner of Laurier Avenue East and Russell Avenue, in the city of Ottawa. This two-and-a-half storey house is designated as a provincial heritage building under the Ontario Heritage Act, for its architectural and historical values. The home is recognized for its large scale and elegant design, representing such architectural styles as Edwardian Classical. The house features a perfectly symmetrical plan, a hipped roof, a centred dormer, a tall chimney, a porch supported by classically inspired columns. Further features include a generous amount of windows, bevelled leaded glass windows, robustly modelled rich surface decoration, rich interior decoration of fine woodwork, coloured finishing stone. The house is historically valuable due to its associated with George Goodwin, a building contractor, gaining most of his wealth has come from railway contracts. His company was responsible for the construction of the house which was underway by the spring of 1899 and completed by 1900. George and his family lived in the house for about 10 years before moving to a new residence at 184 Lisgar Street. The house went through numerous ownerships including the McLachlin family, one of Ottawa’s first lumbermen, the Grey Sisters of the Immaculate Conception, a Barracks for the Canadian Women’s Army Corps and St John Ambulance Canadian Headquarters, before reaching its current use by Amnesty International.