Celebrating Built Heritage (and other flights of fancy) in Saint John, New Brunswick
When we bought our home we knew that the porch, which we now know the Fenton Land and Building Company called a veranda, had rot problems that had to be addressed. The porch was fine, see the pics below, but the rot was not. The previous owner had given us some photos – one from…
I have a strong sentimental feeling for Fred and Maud’s daughters Mary (1924-2011) and Nancy (1927-2014). Both women lived their entire early lives in 5 Alexandra St. and in the case of Nancy, she lived her entire life in this house. Mary Frederica Munro was born 9 Feb 1924. She appears to be named after…
I am not a window expert but the Old House Guy is and he advocates for retaining historical windows and makes a strong case for return on investment re retaining our historical gems. When I weighed the costs to restore versus replace, there is an overwhelming economic case to retain our original windows. With colder…
My husband needed a proper desk to work on. We scoured ads for antique desks for months but my husband is tall and sometimes the older desks just do not accommodate his long legs. Then this beauty came along. It’s a pretty cool desk made almost entirely without nails and all sort of snaps and…
Our home is fairly accurate to what it looked like in 1910 so I decided the kitchen, as the one room that had been changed, should be redressed. We have no idea what the original kitchen looked like. The only neighbour’s house with a relatively intact kitchen is a 1930s remodel (and a fairly fab…
One of the things I love about our home is its flow and the ability to leave some doors open and create movement through rooms or close the doors and create quiet private spaces. I know open floor plan is all the rage but that has never been my thing – maybe it comes from…
As discussed in a previous post, day staff were expected to assist in day to day activities in 5 Alexandra, i.e. cooking and shopping. We heard that one of the Munro sisters used to have someone come in and prepare her meals while she was at work. I had not thought much about this until…
As mentioned in the first post, 5 Alexandra St was one of five homes built at the exact same time by the exact same builders with the exact same floor plan. Our homes were meant to be modern which meant they had electricity, water, cement foundations, and were not intended for live in staff but…
Edith Floyd Clark, Alexandrina Clark’s [future inhabitant of 5 Alexandra] step-daughter, living at 69 Adelaide Road, died 29 Nov 1905. Edith’s cause of death is not noted on her death registration, which I found odd, but it is noted in Brenan’s Funeral Home records which indicate Edith died from “abortion by Dr. Preston” and “Dr….
Robert Gaskin and Mary Quigley married 1876 in Saint John. Robert Gaskin was named after his father Robert Gaskin. Mary Quigley was the daughter of John Quigley and Leah Anne Walker Quigley. We know a bit more about the Winter / Gaskin families and their migration from England to Canada due to entries found in…