Bannerman House

May as well get to know the neighbours. Bannerman House, number 54 Circular Rd. seems to have caught the heartcockles of the Heritage Foundation, for both its history and aesthetic beauty. No doubt the slick navy colour and an abundance of architectural details do Newfoundland "vernacular" (original, local) architecture proud. I think the half-roofline above the first level, with its rounded shape, is gorgeous. 

Bannerman House has environmental value because the house sits on land that once stretched a sizeable distance, taking in the full extent of Circular Road, where farming and cattle grazing took place. The house was once the original farmhouse, though many renovations have taken place since its pre-1843 construction. Its early vernacular style provides a striking contrast to the ornate Second Empire merchant houses which were built later in the neighbourhood, making Bannerman House a vital contribution to the architecture and streetscape of the surrounding area ...
The original owner was John Mitchell, an immigrant apprentice butcher from Dorset England. He became a well-established name in the city for his excellence in providing produce for various sea vessels. By 1836 his reputation for quality goods allowed him to lease land from the government for the grazing of his animals and to grow vegetables and flowers. ...

John and Ann Mitchell made considerable progress in their business, and the large tract of land was used for the grazing of animals, and growing vegetables and flowers. Ann established two small hothouses on the east side of the residence in which to start seeds, and the farm soon became very well-known for its production of vegetables and every variety of flowers, especially at Easter-time. ...

Mitchell was also responsible for shooting and injuring the son of then Governor, Sir Richard Goodwin Keats, when young Keats attempted to steal vegetables one night in 1843. Mitchell took aim and shot the unknown intruder. From this event the land was known as Mitchell’s Garden, and the account provides the earliest record of habitation in a Mitchell house on the site. ...
In the early 1990s, the owners of Bannerman House wished to demolish the house and replace it with a modern structure. After considerable lobbying by the Newfoundland Historic Trust, and the presentation to City Council of an earlier version of this essay, the owners were persuaded to sell the house ...

Bannerman House has cultural value because, as an early 19th century home in a neighbourhood built during the Victorian Period, it provides a fixed point from which Circular Road east emerged. It thus defines the neighbourhood’s history. Since architectural practices and examples mirror the society and values by which they are spawned, Bannerman House and the other homes in the neighbourhood provide a concrete example of Newfoundland social, cultural and political transition from an outpost colony to the status of a self-governing independent dominion in the British Empire. 

It won the Southcott Award in 1995.

The Lodge

In a recent perusing of the heritage buildings of St. John's and Newfoundland, the sort of thing you addictively do for a few days after leaving Newfoundland, I found myself pursuing particular structures (more on those at a later date), which led to the sort of satisfying discoveries that engulf hours of a morning.

The documentary evidence and explanation from the Heritage Foundation of Newfoundland is thorough and engaging, and offers a number of surprises for those of us who've grown up in St. John's and Newfoundland. Certain buildings have had multiple owners of renown or provincial importance, and some of the background information of a single property offers a wider explanation on parts of the town at large.


Enter The Lodge at Sunnyside, a striking and unusual structure, a registered heritage structure in the Gothic Revival style. The "bargeboard," the white decorative below the eaves is the main stylistic detail, though the windows and faux-masonry technique are equally important.

Quite notably, The Lodge's garden also makes up part of the heritage property, a fact that is unique to the many structures I have come across to date.


Some passages of note from the heritage designation:

The Lodge contributes to the country-like setting of Sunnyside and helps define Sunnyside as a large, cohesive estate - a rarity in a neighbourhood where large estates have been subdivided for newer development . . .
The Lodge was built in the 1870s as a residence for the carriage driver of the Murray family, the owners of the Sunnyside estate. James Murray, a St. John’s merchant, had purchased Sunnyside circa 1870. James Murray operated one of the largest fishery supply firms in Newfoundland and was later elected a Member of the House of Assembly for Burgeo and LaPoile. Murray sometimes wrote on fishery and economic related matters for St. John’s newspapers and also published two periodicals, the Anti-Confederate and the Centenary Magazine. Murray died at Sunnyside on January 16, 1900. His sons Andrew and David went on to become prominent merchants in St. John’s. 

See the original document here.