Reddy Property is a two and a half storey, 19th century merchant house located in the community of Marystown, NL. It is influenced by the Classical style of architecture, is located on a hill and overlooks Marystown Harbour and Mortier Bay. The designation encompasses the entire property, bound by Water Street West, Reddy’s Road, Creston Blvd. and private property.
Formal Recognition Type
Municipal Heritage Building, Structure or Land
Heritage Value
Reddy Property has been designated a municipal heritage site by the Town of Marystown due to its aesthetic and historic value.
Reddy Property has aesthetic value because it is a good surviving example of a nineteenth century outport merchant home and surrounding land. This house is clad in wooden clapboard and has pilasters gracing the corners. A central bay spans two and a half stories and extends above the roof; it ends in a dormer, flanked on either side by dormer windows with pediments. Two chimneys are located above the roof ridge and the roof also features returned eaves. The main entrance is a single, plain door but is topped by a decorative transom and woodwork. The door is also flanked by pilasters, giving decorative continuity throughout the house. The 2/1 windows have wide, flat mouldings with small sills and the dormers also have pilasters to complement the pediments.
The associated land also has aesthetic value for its undeveloped state, green space and openness towards Marystown Harbour. It is representative of a nineteenth century residential/ mercantile outport landscape where properties were built on large plots of land, very many of them facing the water.
Reddy Property has historic value for several reasons. It is one of a few remaining examples of a merchant’s house in the area. It is also valuable for its association with Hugh Reddy, who moved from Burin to Mortier Bay in 1896 to set up a shipbuilding business. Reddy was one of the first to engage in shipbuilding in Mortier Bay. His business included the construction of schooners, boats and dories and entailed fitting schooners for the bank fishery and supplying private fishermen. Reddy was a prominent citizen, businessman, and fish merchant and held the office of mayor for fifty years. Reddy Property is one of the last buildings standing on this site, where a once thriving enterprise existed.
Source: Town of Marystown Regular Council Meeting December 6, 2005.
Character Defining Elements
All those elements that define the nineteenth century merchant house, including:
-steeply pitched gable roof;
-returned eaves;
-narrow wooden clapboard;
-two chimneys extending from the roof ridge;
-Classically influenced details, such as pilasters and pediment;
-dormer windows above the eaves;
-two storey central bay which extends above the eaves and forms a third dormer;
-all original window and door openings and sizes, and;
-orientation towards Mortier Bay, as well as the dimensions and general massing.
All those original elements of the property, including:
-undeveloped green space with natural foliage, and;
-property situated at the edge of the water, rising to a hill on which the house is built.
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