712 Main Street

712 Main Street is a two-storey neo-classical house located on Main Street in Woodstock. The house is perfectly symmetrical with a low pitched roof sloping to the front. The historic place designation applies to the footprint of the building.

712 Main Street is recognized by the Town of Woodstock as a Local Historic Place because it is representative of early neo-classical homes in the town and its role in the private health care of the Town.

The house displays the genre in its simplest and purest form, without influence from other architectural styles. When Dr. Alfred Prescott purchased the building in 1909 for use as a private hospital, additional wings, a veranda and dormers were added. The additions were removed some time after 1927 when the hospital closed. The present home closely resembles what it would have looked like when it was built circa 1840, thus restoring the heritage value of the building.

The heritage value of 712 Main Street also lies in its role in the history of private health care in Woodstock. Although the building has not retained the physical characteristics associated with its former use as a private hospital, its association as such makes the building an important part of Woodstock's past.

Source: Carleton County Historical Society Register of Historic Places File #4

The character-defining elements associated with early neo-classical architecture include:

- perfect symmetry;

- rectangular massing;

- capital and entablature;

- corner pilasters;

- surrounds;

- decorative eaves;

- low pitched roof sloping to front;

- side entrance.