The Aitken Property includes a 1930s/1940s bungalow and two outbuildings on a mature lot, located on 1 Dr. T Milton Green Square, in Deer Lake, NL. The designation is confined to the footprint of the buildings.
Formal Recognition Type
Registered Heritage Structure
Heritage Value
The Aitken Property was designated a Registered Heritage Structure by the Heritage Foundation of Newfoundland and Labrador in 2025 because of its historic and aesthetic value.
The Aitken Property has historic value due to its association with Deer Lake’s evolution and growth both during and after the construction of a hydroelectric station in the 1920s. In 1922 an agreement was reached between the Newfoundland government, Newfoundland Products Corporation Limited (a subsidiary of Reid Newfoundland Company), and Sir W.G. Armstrong Whitworth and Company for the construction of a pulp and paper mill at Corner Brook, a hydroelectric station at Deer Lake, and the infrastructure needed for both. Construction of the station was started in 1923 by Newfoundland Power and Paper Company Limited, whose board included nine members appointed by Whitworth, three by the Reid Newfoundland Company, one by the Newfoundland government, and one by the British government. As 1923 progressed, the number of men working on the “Humber Development” went from several hundred to several thousand. In the Deer Lake area, construction sites included a main dam at Grand Lake, a canal connecting the dam to an intake above the hydroelectric station, penstocks from the intake to the station, a log chute, and the hydroelectric station itself. Construction continued through 1924 and in April of 1925 the turbines at the station were powered up for the first time.
The amount of projects in Deer Lake and the rapid pace of construction resulted in many people from other communities going there to seek employment. Among the largely male workforce, some came alone and others were accompanied by wives and children. The companies involved built some permanent housing in the form of detached houses and communal staff quarters, but temporary work camps were also set up. Some workers took it upon themselves to build shelters close to their worksites. The Forebay (later referred to as “Aitken’s Garden” by some residents of Deer Lake) was one such area where quickly constructed accommodations were built and a neighbourhood of sorts was established. A forebay is defined as a reservoir or canal where water is collected and stored for use in running machinery. The Forebay in Deer Lake was near the intake for the penstocks that feed the powerhouse. The first seven penstocks were built between 1923 to 1925 and penstocks 8 and 9 were built in 1929. Pictures taken during the construction of the hydroelectric station and its associated infrastructure clearly show buildings in the Forebay area. The 1935 census of Deer Lake lists families known to have lived there. By the time of the 1945 census, none of these families are listed as living within close proximity to one another. Many had moved to other parts of Deer Lake and others had left the community altogether.
Ernest (Ernie) Aitken was one of those men who moved to Deer Lake and made it his home. Born in 1891 in Back Harbour, Twillingate, his family later moved to Botwood. He married Annie Lyver, who was born in Springdale in 1899 and had also moved to Botwood. As early as 1925 Ernie was in Deer Lake working for the Newfoundland Power and Paper Company, whose holdings in Deer Lake were later acquired by the International Pulp and Paper Company and then by Bowaters. Ernie and Annie’s first child, daughter Joan, was born in 1926 and their second daughter Jean was born two years later. The birthplace of both was recorded as “Humber,” a term used to refer to those informal neighbourhoods that had sprung up around the Deer Lake area. The family lived in a log cabin at Forebay until at least 1935. Sometime between the censuses of 1935 and 1945, the Aitken family moved to the present-day Aitken’s Property, on the other side of the penstocks and closer to the more populated part of the town.
Ernie Aitken’s personal history, both before and after moving to Deer Lake, is notable. Ernie worked as a grader in his father’s sawmill before he joined the Newfoundland Regiment on December 14, 1914, at the age of 23. He earned two commendations while serving – the Military Medal for his actions at Broenbeek, Flanders, Belgium in 1917 and the Bar to Military Medal in 1919. The citation for his Military Medal reads, “On the night of October 9th, 1917 the Transport Officer and four of his men were killed on their way to Battalion Headquarters with rations. Immediately upon receipt of the news Sgt Aitken volunteered to attempt to reach H.Q. with a fresh supply of water. Taking four men with him he started for Transport lines at 1:30 A.M. on the 10th and after meeting with a considerable amount of shell fire, safely delivered the supplies to Brigade H.Q.” Over the four years and 224 days that Ernie served, he was at the front in Egypt, France, and Belgium. He was also promoted from Private, to Lance Corporal, to Corporal, to Sergeant. He was discharged on July 25, 1919 due to demobilization.
Once settled in Deer Lake, Ernie Aitkin worked for the local paper company, mostly in their woods operation as a chief scaler. He travelled through woodlots and between lumber camps by pony and reportedly he covered a lot of ground in the 50 years he worked in the pulp and paper industry. Ernie became the first president of Deer Lake’s Great War Veterans Association, served on the executive of Deer Lake’s Royal Canadian Legion, was a faithful Forget-me-not and Poppy Fund campaigner (as were his wife and two daughters), was among the surviving Royal Newfoundland Regiment members in attendance at Beaumont Hamel on the 45th anniversary of the July Drive, was a Charter Member of the Deer Lake Lions Club, and acted as returning officer in municipal elections. His wife Annie died in November of 1974. Ernie died just over six months later in July 1975. His obituary reads, “He was a great family man and a good citizen of Deer Lake. He was a very soft spoken man and well liked by all, especially the veterans of both wars. He took great pride in his lovely home on West Lane with its nice lawn and beautiful trees nestled in a very quiet part of Deer Lake.”
The Aitken Property has aesthetic value as a good representative example of the type of homes built in Deer Lake in the decades following the construction of the hydroelectric plant. The Aitken house was built sometime between 1935 to 1945. It incorporates many stylistic elements associated with the bungalow movement, including a mid-pitched hip roof, a front facing dormer, one-and-a-half-storey elevation, a modest front porch, and a balanced rather than symmetrical facade. Similarly designed bungalows were built in Deer Lake before and after this time period, but the Aitken house maintains its original style elements and period appropriate materials, along with being situated in a traditional setting with wooden outbuildings, wooden fences, and mature, purpose-planted trees. Other houses in Deer Lake of this style and era have been modified in terms of additions, window style, and the use of modern materials.
Source: Heritage Foundation of Newfoundland and Labrador property file “Deer Lake – Aitken Property – FPT 5363”
Character Defining Elements
All those exterior features representative of vernacular bungalow style, including:
-mid-pitched hip roof;
-number of storeys;
-location, size, and style of single central dormer on front facade;
-large overhanging eaves;
-narrow wooden clapboard;
-wooden eaves trim, corner boards, and waterboards;
-balanced facade;
-wooden window size, style, trim, and placement;
-wooden storm window size, style, trim, and placement;
-size, style, trim, and placement of exterior wooden doors;
-location, size, and style of porch on front facade;
-dimensions, location, and orientation of house;
-simple utilitarian design of two outbuildings, including their dimensions, location, and orientation, roof style, wooden clapboard, wooden trims, and the size, style, trim, and placement of wooden windows and exterior doors.
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