Description
The Butler Property is a two-and-a-half storey house with a steeply pitched gable roof. Built in 1905, this property was used by the Butler family as a year around residence. It is located in Cupids, NL. The designation is confined to the property, including the house, hayloft, carriage house, outhouse and fencing.
Statement of Significance
Formal Recognition Type
Registered Heritage Structure
Heritage Value
The Butler Property was designated a Registered Heritage Structure by the Heritage Foundation of Newfoundland and Labrador in 2001 because of its aesthetic and cultural value.
The Butler Property has aesthetic value as it is a good surviving vernacular example of a classical revival style house, and one of the few remaining examples of this type in the region. The house is a fine demonstration of the typical dwellings built by fisherman in Newfoundland during the early 1900s. The windows in the house are mostly original and many of them include blue and yellow panes – a rather unique feature in Cupids. Above the back door there is a small stoop porch and a two-storey porch with a pediment roof is located on the main façade, giving the house added visual interest. Large corner boards topped with cornices, simple mouldings and entablatures above the windows and doors are reflective of the carpenter’s interpretation of the classical revival style in the outport context. Also located on the property are a number of outbuildings. Though they are all different sizes, each resemble one another, having a shed roof and plain flat moulding around doors and windows.
The Butler Property has further aesthetic value for its environmental setting. Viewed in its entirety – including the house, outbuildings and traditional fencing – the property is an important component on the built landscape of the community.
The Butler Property has cultural value because it exists in a traditional Newfoundland setting – with its associated outbuildings and fencing. Though it was common for houses to have a number of outbuildings on their property years ago, it is now becoming a rarity throughout the province. These outbuildings played a vital role in a subsistence economy which depended on resources from the land and sea. The Butler property is uncommon and very significant to the community because it serves as a reminder of this earlier time and way of life.
Source: Heritage Foundation of Newfoundland and Labrador property file “Cupids – Butler Property – FPT 1695”
Character Defining Elements
All original features which relate to the age and vernacular design of the home including:
-number of storeys;
-steep gable roof;
-chimney number, style and placement;
-return along eaves;
-narrow wooden clapboard;
-large wooden corner boards with cornice;
-size, style, trim and placement of two-storey porch with pediment;
-size, style, trim and placement of stoop porch on rear façade;
-size, style, trim and placement of wooden windows;
-coloured panes in windows;
-entablatures over windows;
-size, style, trim and placement of wooden storm windows;
-size, style, trim and placement of exterior wooden doors, and;
-dimension, location and orientation of building.
All features relating to the design, construction, and placement of the outbuildings, including;
-original roof line of outbuildings;
-narrow wooden clapboard on outbuildings;
-original windows and doors in outbuildings;
-original window and door placement in outbuildings, and;
-simplicity of exterior decoration and detail on all buildings on property.
All those features that speak to the environmental quality of the place, including:
-wooden fence surrounding property;
-location of all buildings on property in regards to one another, and;
-landscape around property.
Location and History
Community
Cupids
Municipality
Town of Cupids
Civic Address
Burnt Head Loop
Construction (circa)
1905 - 1905
Style
Rectangular Long Façade
Location
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