Formal Recognition Type

Registered Heritage Structure

Heritage Value

The Aubrey and Elizabeth Crowley Property was designated a Registered Heritage Structure by the Heritage Foundation of Newfoundland and Labrador in 2001 because of its aesthetic, historic and cultural value.

The Aubrey and Elizabeth Crowley Property has aesthetic value as it is an excellent example of an early 20th century outport dwelling, comprised of simple building forms and multiple outbuildings. Located on the edge of the water, this two-storey biscuit box style house has a low pitched roof and single hung rectangular windows. Designed using the typical Georgian hall-and-parlour plan, the house has four rooms on each level with a central hallway, which is reflected through the symmetry on the main façade. The associated outbuildings, including a stable, a sizable root cellar and a garage, all blend in with the style of the house in regards to exterior colour and detailing.

The Aubrey and Elizabeth Crowley Property has historic value in that it reflects a way of life that was once common place in Newfoundland outports. With its agricultural land and outbuildings, this property illustrates the broad settlement pattern of the north shore of Conception Bay in the late 19th and early 20th centuries – that of families who derived their living from the sea but also maintained substantial subsistence gardens and farm animals.

The Aubrey and Elizabeth Crowley Property has cultural value for the community of Ochre Pit Cove. For four decades the house was home to John J. (Jack) Crowley, a man known and respected in the area. A schoolteacher and principal, returning officer, commissioner of oaths and marriages, Jack was a trusted man to whom people turned to for help with tax returns and other official business. Jack lived there as a bachelor until he died in 1984, leaving the house and land to his nephew Ernest, who did not occupy the house but kept it well maintained until September 2000 when he sold it to John Doyle and Sandra LeFort. In November 2021, Robert Kelland purchased the property.

Source: Heritage Foundation of Newfoundland and Labrador property file “Ochre Pit Cove – Aubrey and Elizabeth Crowley Property – FPT 1692”

Character Defining Elements

All original features which relate to the age and style of the property including:
-biscuit box style;
-low-pitched gable roof;
-number of storeys;
-symmetrical facade;
-wooden clapboard;
-wooden cornerboards;
-wooden windows size, style, trim and placement;
-wooden door size, style, trim and placement;
-all aspects of root cellar including its likeness to the other structures on the property, its size, style and location on the property;
-all aspects of the stable including its likeness to the other structures on the property, its size, style and location on the property;
-all aspects of the garage including its likeness to the other structures on the property, its size, style and location on the property;
-traditional wooden fence surrounding the property, and;
-massing, dimension, location and orientation of buildings.

Community

Ochre Pit Cove

Municipality

Not specified (Newfoundland)

Civic Address

Wharf Road

Construction (circa)

1910 - 1915

Style

Rectangular Long Façade