Located on the remnants of a nineteenth century country estate, the sheltered Sunnyside House property sits in the company of many other historic upper class houses on Circular Road in St. John’s, NL. The designation is confined to the footprint of the main dwelling house.
Formal Recognition Type
Registered Heritage Structure
Heritage Value
Sunnyside House was designated a Registered Heritage Structure by the Heritage Foundation of Newfoundland and Labrador in 2007 due to its aesthetic and historic value.
Sunnyside House, located on the western end of the former Sunnyside property, was built in two parts. The central part of the structure, with its steep side-gabled roof, was the original 1846 building. The front-gabled east and west wings were added in the 1870s by local builder John Score. Many of the house’s features from the 1870s reconstruction remain intact, such as the multiple chimneys, the double hung, multi-paned windows, peaked dormer windows, two front sunrooms and bay windows on the east and rear facades.
Sunnyside House has been owned by two prominent Newfoundland merchant families. The original owner, John O’Mara, came to Newfoundland sometime between 1831-1845 from Waterford, Ireland and established an extensive mercantile firm. Like many merchants of the time, he also entered politics. In 1847, O’Mara was Commissioner of Roads for St. John’s and also served as the District Health Warden. He was Justice of the Peace for the city’s central district in 1853. Sunnyside was purchased by Scottish-born merchant James Murray in 1872. It was Murray who made the additions to the property as it stands today. James Murray operated one of the largest fishery supply firms in Newfoundland and wrote on fishery and economic matters for St. John’s newspapers and periodicals. Like O’Mara, James Murray was influential in Newfoundland politics, serving as MHA for Burgeo and La Poile. His son, Andrew H. Murray, went on to establish the Murray Premises at St. John’s Harbour. James Murray died at Sunnyside, on January 16, 1900.
Sunnyside House is the heart of what was once a large 19th-century estate. The house is located on a spacious property which once extended south to Kelly’s Brook (below what is now Empire Ave) and east to the Lodge gatehouse at 60 Circular Road. Two of the estate’s historic outbuildings, the Lodge and Stable, still stand today. The Sunnyside buildings are representative of a time when this neighbourhood was on the outskirts of town. They speak to the English-style estate living emulated by the city’s prosperous merchants.
Source: Heritage Foundation of Newfoundland and Labrador property file “St. John’s – Sunnyside House – FPT 3128”
Character Defining Elements
All those elements that define the Victorian vernacular house, including:
-steeply pitched gable roofs with fascia and bargeboard;
-size, style and placement of peaked dormers;
-size, style, trim and placement of 6/6 dormer windows;
-size, number and location of multiple chimneys;
-narrow wooden clapboard;
-all wooden trim, pilasters and corner boards;
-5-sided porch on front facade;
-size, style and placement of 2 sunrooms on the front facade;
-two storey bay window on east wing;
-one storey bay on rear facade;
-size, style, trim and placement of double hung, 6/6 wooden windows;
-size, style, trim and placement of wooden storm windows, and;
-size, stylem trim and placement of exterior wooden doors;
All those elements that reflect its environmental setting, including:
-location on a large parcel of land in original configuration;
-spatial relation of house to outbuildings, and;
-large mature lot with trees.