Manitoba's Government house is a structure of solid masonry walls and timber floor framing, the original block being square and four storeys in height, counting the basement level, covering a total of approximately , including the tower. The volume and its facade composition was at first symmetrical along an east-west axis through the centre of the building, though this arrangement was later altered by the addition of new wings; this is clad in brick, trimmed with cut stone and ornate wood cornices at the roof line, and iron cresting tops the tower. The overall design was described in 1883 as "Italian, modified to suit the requirements of the climate," though the same year an early visitor noted in the guest book: "It is an unpretending looking structure, of nondescript architecture and with no outside ornamentation." Similarly, in 1953, the provincial architect said that Government House was the one "jarring note" on the grounds of the Legislative Building. By later in the 20th century, however, provincial architects stated the house is "Victorian architecture with French influence from the Second Napoleonic Empire with the flat steep-sided Mansard roof".
