Carriage houses and garages – the beauties found in Saint John

I will soon write about landscaping around historical properties, but for right now I want to focus on the beauty of out buildings in Saint John.

I think historic homes can get lost when the original outbuildings are not cared for and replaced with modern monstrosities.  In Saint John we are blessed to have many historic carriage houses and pre-1940 garages to learn from.

I spent my early life in Prince Albert, SK.  We have one of the most beautiful homes in Canada called Keyhole Castle.  Every year I decorate my Christmas tree with a Keyhole Castle ornament and when I go home I walk by Keyhole Castle and photograph it.  

Off to the side of the home was a stunning garage.  It burned sadly in the recent past and the owners took the opportunity to build a three car horror.  

The look and feel of the home and its environs are damaged by this thing.  This is not elegant nor in scale to the house.

I hope in Saint John, we can escape the pain of the Keyhole Castle loss.  In Saint John, many carriage houses and garages survive.  Some have been turned into homes.  I know that some have sadly been lost, like the stunner at the Hoar house and the beauty behind the J. Fraser Gregory home.  In fact, the New Brunswick Museum Archives has a photograph in its collection of the New Brunswick Observatory, ca. 1925, at 299 Douglas Ave with the J. Fraser Gregory carriage house behind it.  The loss of the observatory and the carriage house almost physically pains me.   Can you imagine the joy at recreating that carriage house?   See below care of the New Brunswick Museum Archives, William Francis Ganong fonds,  The New Brunswick Observatory, 299 Douglas Avenue, Saint John, New Brunswick, ca. 1925, 1987.17.1388.

This other pic comes from the New Brunswick Museum Archives showing the carriage house ca 1901-1911.

This pics from the Provincial Archives of New Brunswick, shows the carriage house now demolished at the Five Corners intersection.  House on Mount Pleasant in Saint John  – Item – [ca.1910] – P46\217 .

Sadly, Saint John no longer has the Anglin carriage house.

This beauty used to exist on the west side at 69 City Line.

On the other hand, many survive.  My favourite surviving carriage house is on the west side.  I swoon at the broken roofline, doors, and windows.  I would love to buy it.

  

We are also blessed with some pretty fab historic garages in Saint John.  I love a four point roof.

I decided to get better educated about carriage houses and historic garages (i.e. those built before 1940) in Saint John.  I contacted the Provincial Archives and they do have a collection of architectural plans for carriage houses and garages in the province.  I received permission to share the following.

Check out this beautiful carriage house in west Saint John, Lancaster.  Provincial Archives of New Brunswick.   Barnhill Property, Manawagonish Road.  Item – 1912/09 – P210\2413 – large house, garage or shed out back, large yard beautiful new car out front
Saint John, NB.

Below are plans for the carriage house and stables operated by Robert Thomas Worden (1845-1929).  Worden had a livery stable on Kings Square prior to commissioning HH Motts to create these 1897 plans for a new carriage house and stable at 145 Princess St between Sydney and Charlotte streets which is now a parking lot.  There are quite a few plans here so I am sharing my favs.

Provincial Archives of New Brunswick.  Architect – HH Motts.  House and Horse Carriage of RT Worden.  1897.  Reference 107.  Container 30152.  MC164-107-Barn.

Provincial Archives of New Brunswick.  Architect – HH Motts.  House and Horse Carriage of RT Worden.  1897.  Reference 107.  Container 30152.  MC164-107-Front Elevation

Provincial Archives of New Brunswick.  Architect – HH Motts.  House and Horse Carriage of RT Worden.  1897.  Reference 107.  Container 30152.  MC164-107-Cross-Section-2.

Provincial Archives of New Brunswick.  Architect – HH Motts.  House and Horse Carriage of RT Worden.  1897.  Reference 107.  Container 30152.  MC164-107-Gr. Floor, Basement, 2nd floor, etc.

Provincial Archives of New Brunswick.  Architect – HH Motts.  House and Horse Carriage of RT Worden.  1897.  Reference 107.  Container 30152.  MC164-107-Horse Barn Ground Floor 2.

Provincial Archives of New Brunswick.  Architect – HH Motts.  House and Horse Carriage of RT Worden.  1897.  Reference 107.  Container 30152.  MC164-107-Horse Barn Ground Floor 3.

Provincial Archives of New Brunswick.  Architect – HH Motts.  House and Horse Carriage of RT Worden.  1897.  Reference 107.  Container 30152.  MC164-107-Longitudian-Section.

Provincial Archives of New Brunswick.  Architect – HH Motts.  House and Horse Carriage of RT Worden.  1897.  Reference 107.  Container 30152.  MC164-107-Wooden Truss Ground Floor 1.

In 1919 Worden’s stables and related items were auctioned off.  A car dealership took up on this space.

Worden’s home was sold in 1928.  He moved to the LaTour hotel at 29 King Street in a bedsit then 35 Sydney before he died in 1929.  I appreciate Mr. Worden’s contributions to the city and his obituary reminds me of that of JK Dunlop’s from 66 Coburg.  Mr. Dunlop had been a renowned shipbuilder but when he died he seemed most remembered by older citizens perhaps because his line of business had gone out of vogue, a bit like R. Thomas Worden who was remembered by older citizens too.  

I am interested in what the flooring was like in stables and carriage houses.  A local historical architect told me that the Hoar House in Mount Pleasant had a wood flooring that was very strong being built of 3”x10” pieces of wood beside each other for the entire floor which was often referred to as “mill deck” and frequently used in industrial buildings like wool mills, factories, the Red Rose tea building, etc.  I cannot see where on the plans for Worden’s building the flooring is defined but perhaps it was this mill deck.  It makes sense that horses were not always in the carriage houses (where their urine and feces would damage the floor) but in adjacent or nearby stables.  I have read about the pollution caused by horse excrement in NYC so I can imagine Saint John had similar issues.

I have read newspaper articles about liveries Uptown Saint john and what I can tell is that some people chose to have their horses with Worden and others, while other people had their horses at their own homes perhaps in a stable separated from the carriage house.  Carriage houses in Saint John often had storage for the carriage with a hay loft on top and sometimes space for the livery person to sleep there if necessary.

See some examples below.

 

The carriage house below is visible to the right of the home in this photo held by the New Brunswick Museum Archives and the carriage house exists today.  

 

 

It’s interesting that an automobile seller moved into Worden’s livery space.  Out with horses and in with cars.  

Check out this stunning garage in west Saint John, Lancaster.  Provincial Archives of New Brunswick.   Manawagonish Road, ?for Pugsley?  Item – 1915 – P210\2725 — road, building, horse and buggy, dog in the street, dirt road, Saint John, NB.

In Saint John we also have many great examples of historic garages.  Again the Provincial Archives of New Brunswick was able to share some wonderful architectural plans this time from architect  H. Claire Motts.

Provincial Archives of New Brunswick.  Architect – H Claire Motts.  Dr. J.H. Barton Garage and sun Room.  1927.  Reference 996.  Container 32208.  MC164-996-Western Side Elevation.  I am personally drawn to sunroom additions in Saint john so I liked seeing the garage and sunroom added tastefully on these plans.  I do not think that Dr. Barton is mentioned on the plans themselves but he is in the finding aid from the Provincial Archives of New Brunswick.

Provincial Archives of New Brunswick.  Architect – H Claire Motts.  Dr. J.H. Barton Garage and sun Room.  1927.  Reference 996.  Container 32208.  MC164-996-Ground Floor Plan 1.

Provincial Archives of New Brunswick.  Architect – H Claire Motts.  Dr. J.H. Barton Garage and sun Room.  1927.  Reference 996.  Container 32208.  MC164-996-Ground Floor Plan 2.  I LOVE the art deco car sexily drawn into the plan.

Dr. James Herbert Barton, 1873-1938, was a Saint John dentist.  Below is a celebration of his career in 1929, two years after the plans for his garage and sunroom were drawn up.  He interestingly worked in a building owned by Motts.

Dr. Barton’s obituary provides a glimpse into his community contributions.

I want to give thanks to the Archivist at the New Brunswick Museum Archives who reminded me that the house numbers on the west side changed.  We identified that 75 Lancaster Ave, which had the beautiful 1920s garage addition for Dr. Barton, is now 310 Lancaster on the corner of Lancaster and Earle.  The house below was valued at 10,000 in the 1931 census which was twice the valuation of my home at the time and $1,000 more than the deBury mansion on Douglas and Main in the north end.

On a small tangent, in 2022, my beloved stargazer lilies featured below ($40+ each) were all stolen from our Princess St. property.  It did not occur to me to call the police, although I posted on various social media channels.  Well, Dr. Barton made the news in 1927 when a number of his Darwin tulips were stolen.  The injustice.

Circling back to the point of this blog, we have some other nice pre 1940 garage examples in Saint John.   See below.

Most often the flooring would have been concrete in these garages according to the heritage architect I connected with.

My dream is that we love these buildings and keep and maintain them.  They are useful, even today, and can be restored and utilized (she shed anyone?).  For our historic homes, the out buildings contribute to the entire aesthetic and help keep our communities attractive.  I love taking a walk and discovering these little gems in Saint Awesome.  

Oh, and a small aside, the carriage house at 110 Westmoreland is still in tact.  Let’s hope it stays that way!