Canaan House

Canaan House is a classical square-plan villa built around 1805, with additions made in 1877 by Peddie and Kinnear, and further modifications in 1904, possibly by Peddie and Washington Browne. The building features three bays and four storeys, with a three-storey, three-bay addition to the west and a small square plan addition at the north-west corner. It served as the residence for the first medical officer and other medical staff in the 1920s and is currently used as hospital administrative offices as of 2014.

The original structure is made of coursed and squared rubble sandstone in shades of pink, yellow, and grey, with droved yellow ashlar dressings. The later additions are constructed from squared and snecked stugged pink sandstone, also with droved yellow ashlar dressings. The front of the 1805 house features a base course, and there is a blocking course at the advanced central bay. The windows are predominantly timber sash and case with four panes of glazing. The building has corniced stacks with yellow clay cans, a piended slate roof, and cast-iron rainwater goods.

The entrance elevation is marked by a distinctive pedimented doorcase with a round-arched door, and there is a raised attic with a segmental arched window, all set within a giant round-arched recessed panel. The outer bay of the 1904 section has a shallow bow window.

Inside, the late 19th-century interior remains largely intact, featuring timber panelled doors and timber chimneypieces. The decorative plasterwork is particularly fine in the public rooms, complemented by a late 19th-century timber staircase and a rinceau frieze of floral plasterwork over the skylight above the stair.