The Emma and Philip Templeman Property includes a late-nineteenth-century, gable roofed, wooden house, and an associated hipped roof, wooden fisheries store located at the rear of the property and at the water’s edge. Both are located on Main Road in Newtown, NL. The designation is confined to the footprints of both buildings.
Formal Recognition Type
Registered Heritage Structure
Heritage Value
The Emma and Philip Templeman Property was designated a Registered Heritage Structure by the Heritage Foundation of Newfoundland and Labrador in 2006 due to its historic, aesthetic, and cultural value.
The Emma and Philip Templeman Property has historic value because of its age and associations with previous owners. The house was built circa 1865 by Isaiah Browne, who was a cobbler by trade. It was later used as a parsonage for the nearby Methodist church. In 1925 the house was purchased by Miss Emma Roberts, who later married Philip Templeman – one of 46 survivors of the Newfoundland Sealing Disaster of 1914 which took the lives of 78 men.
The Emma and Philip Templeman Property has aesthetic value because of its architectural design. The house is a good surviving example of late nineteenth century, middle-class housing. The one-and-a-half storey construction and steep gable roof with returned eaves are common for the area, while the peaked dormers add a decorative element to the otherwise simple exterior. Plain, unobtrusive features like the wide, flat mouldings; large rain caps over the original 2/2 windows and doors; plank storm door and wooden, stained glass interior door all show quality craftsmanship in this vernacular, outport house.
Further aesthetic value can be found in the small fisheries building located at the rear of the property. Local folklore suggests that the store was once a stable and was moved from its original location in Newtown to its present one. Strategically situated at the water’s edge this 23 square metre utility outbuilding possesses simple design features. A hipped roof tops an otherwise unadorned rectangular building supported by wooden shores (posts). Each side of this one storey building features either a simple wooden plank door or windows with wooden shutters.
The Emma and Philip Templeman Property has further aesthetic value for its environmental setting. The combination of both buildings on the property in their setting and orientation near the water reveal an historically typical pattern of settlement for the area. The existence of such properties in their original condition is becoming rare, as the trend towards more modern housing increases, and the necessity for fisheries buildings lessens.
The Emma and Philip Templeman Property has cultural value because of its importance to the community. Highly visible on the main road in Newtown, the property represents a traditional type of architecture and property layout once common in the area. The community has come to rely on this property as a landmark and as a representation of nineteenth century Newtown.
Source: Heritage Foundation of Newfoundland and Labrador property file “Newtown – Emma and Philip Templeman Property – FPT 2857”
Character Defining Elements
All those elements that define the nineteenth century vernacular architectural style of the house, including:
-number of storeys;
-gable roof with returned eaves;
-chimney number, style and placement;
-wooden construction with narrow wooden clapboard;
-size, style, trim and placement of original 2/2 wooden windows;
-size, style, trim and placement of wooden storm windows;
-size, style, trim and placement of dormers with returned eaves;
-size, style, trim and placement of wooden dormer windows;
-size, style, trim and placement of exterior wooden doors;
-plank storm door over stained glass interior door;
-large rain caps over windows and doors;
-size, style and location of porch with hip roof on rear facade;
-dimensions, orientation and location of building.
All those elements that define the utilitarian, vernacular architectural style of the store, including:
-one storey construction;
-wooden post foundation;
-hipped roof;
-plain, unadorned exterior;
-narrow, wooden clapboard;
-size, style, trim and placement of simple, wooden plank door;
-size, style, trim and placement of wooden windows with wooden shutters;
-orientation towards the water;
-dimensions, orientation and location of building near the water’s edge.
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