Formal Recognition Type

Registered Heritage Structure

Heritage Value

The Lodge at Sunnyside was designated a Registered Heritage Structure by the Heritage Foundation of Newfoundland and Labrador in 2011 due to its aesthetic and historic value.

The Lodge at Sunnyside was built around the 1890s as a residence for the carriage driver of the Murray family, the owners of the Sunnyside estate. The estate  was purchased by Scottish-born merchant James Murray in 1872. 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.He was also 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.

The Lodge is a fine example of the Gothic Revival style in a residential building. Originally a one-storey building, the Lodge was later raised to one-and-a half storeys. The front and rear gables have bold returns on the eaves and the front gable features elaborate bargeboard. The left and right facades have hipped roofs. Eaves brackets are spaced in a regular course under the overhanging eave. The wooden sheathing on the exterior was cut and placed to resemble a masonry finish. The Lodge has single hung and fixed single, double and triple rounded arch windows, all of which are multi-paned with latticed mullions and finished with wide, moulded trims. In style and massing, it is nearly a twin of the West Lodge of nearby Government House.

The Lodge sits on the eastern boundary of what was once a spacious property extending south to Kelly’s Brook (below what is now Empire Ave) and west to the Sunnyside main residence. Of the estate’s historic outbuildings, only 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 – The Lodge at Sunnyside (60 Circular Road) – FPT 4622”

Character Defining Elements

All those elements which represent the aesthetic and historic value of The Lodge at Sunnyside, including:

-one-and-a-half storey construction;
-steeply pitched gable roof with adjoining hipped roof wings;
-curlicued bargeboard on the main gable;
-returned eaves;
-eaves brackets;
-chimney style and placement;
-wooden sheathing, cut to resemble masonry;
-wooden window size, style, trim and placement;
-size, style, trim and placement of exterior wooden doors;
-mixed masonry foundation;
-dimension, location and orientation of building;
-mature garden surrounding The Lodge, and;
-placement of The Lodge in relation to the other historic buildings that make up the remnants of the former Sunnyside estate.

Community

St. John's

Municipality

City of St. John's

Civic Address

60 Circular Road

Construction (circa)

1890 - 1890