Margaret Laurence House

• its corner location in a residential area that borders Neepawa's business district and its placement, facing east, within a large grassed area outlined with low hedges, mature trees and a straight sidewalk

Key elements that define the building's modest Italianate-style exterior include:

• the irregular plan featuring shallow two-storey pavilions on the south and east sides, sheltered by an expansive truncated hipped roof, low pitched, with broad overhanging eaves
• the buff brick walls and stone foundation and the spacious verandah, accessed by wide steps, with its wooden details, such as modest Tuscan columns, lattice skirting, eave brackets and white balustrade
• an abundance of tall rectangular windows with segmental arches and decorative brick heads

Key internal elements that define the building's heritage character and its connections to Margaret Laurence include:

• the side-hall plan with the modest foyer housing the staircase and doorways opening into a brightly lit set of three rooms connected by wide passageways
• functional materials and details such as the hardwood floors, the moderately detailed, stained wood baseboards and trim on doors and windows, the open staircase with its unobtrusive but tasteful balustrade and panelling, etc.
• noteworthy features such as the two intricate wooden room dividers that separate the main-floor front rooms, crafted in oak by John Simpson; the round stained-glass window in the southeast entrance door; and the brass and etched-glass pendant light fixtures found in several rooms
• the small second-floor room overlooking the street, adjacent to Margaret Laurence's bedroom and which she referred to as her 'reading room'
• a hole in the kitchen ceiling, constructed for a stovepipe, which is featured in fictional accounts of life in the house