I have been mentally noting sunrooms in Saint John for sometime. Not sure why but they deeply appeal to me. A friend just sent me this pic of an art nouveau sunroom in Frankfurt and it lit a fire under me – I need to start documenting our sunrooms! See inspiration in Frankfurt below.
It seems to me that sunrooms became a fad in Saint John around 1920ish. Many beautiful stately homes added a sunroom. Also called solariums and conservatories (and sun porches – thanks Moyra), we have many beautiful examples in our city. They kind of remind me of the skylight rage of the 80s but are so much chicer and stand up to the weather fairly well.
In reading about sunrooms, it seems that part of their appeal in private homes came about after their use in sanitariums particularly in tuberculosis treatment. See for example the image below care of the New Brunswick Museum Archives / Unknown / photograph / Nurse with Five Female Patients at Jordan Memorial Sanatorium, Riverglade, New Brunswick / 1913 / silver print / 20.3 x 25.7 cm / Nurses Association of New Brunswick fonds / NANB-JMS-1 .
I see in Saint John, starting in the 1920s, many newspaper articles on how to decorate your sunroom. See this 1923 example below.
There are also articles and advice around winterizing the sunroom, see this 1921 example.
80 Main St for instance has a sunroom that was added to the home incorporating the original design elements.
Provincial Archives of New Brunswick. P210-222: Fred Secord’s house (80 Main Street in Saint John), with little boy on the front porch. Home of Frederic Avard Secord and Ethoria Maud (Sprague) Secord, 80 Main Street, Saint John, NB. Taken on December 11, 1911. Note – no sunroom in 1911.
Here is 80 Main in 2021 with the lovely sunroom beautifully incorporated. I have a sneaking suspicion that nowadays nearly no one would take the time to make sure the details were so beautifully consistent so it seems like the sunroom was always there.
I recently highlighted the 1927 sunroom addition plan for the home of Saint John dentist Dr. James Herbert Barton, 1873-1938. The home still exists at 310 Lancaster on the corner of Lancaster and Earle. Architect H. Claire Motts designed the addition of the garage and sunroom. See below.
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.
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 like seeing the window plan.
And now the finished product!
There is a stunning home on Goodrich where the owner at the time commissioned Harvey Havelock Mott, father of H. Clair Mott who designed the sunroom above, to create a sunroom. Here are four options held at the Provincial Archives of New Brunswick – see MC164-207 Addition to Residence of H.J. Fleming, Esq. Goodrich St. City, 1906.
MC164-207.1
MC164-207.2
MC164-207.3
MC164-207.4
71 Sydney, part of the Chipman Hill suites, on the corner of Princess and Sydney in Uptown has a beautiful sunroom addition. I have been told the story of it but need to substantiate before I share. Look at the exterior, it feels like a copper crown has been added!
I love how the stained glass details are mirrored in the door to the sunroom.
Look at the mosaic flooring in the sunroom!
Below are two photographs taken within the sunroom. Edith DeSoyres White married Henry Atwood Bridges at St. John (Stone) Church. Edith’s father was Mayor of Saint John.
I love the fountain or terrarium? in the middle of the room. Reminds me of the one at the J. Fraser Gregory house featured further below.
New Brunswick Museum Archives / Photographer – Melrose? / Object Name and Title – photograph 1. Edith DeSoyres White Bridges in her wedding dress with her sister Mary Woodworth White Angus, 71 Sydney Street, Saint John, New Brunswick / Date – 9 April 1931 / Medium – silver print / Dimensions – overall: 22.3 x 18.4 cm / Credit Line – White Family fonds / Object Number – White-F219-12.
The J. Fraser Gregory home on Douglas Ave. has a sunroom ;also called a conservatory and noted by the City as post 1911] with a fountain inside. The owner kindly gave me permission to post images of the fountain and I plan to research where it came from. May shed light on the fountain at 71 Sydney – where they specially commissioned, purchased outside of the city and brought her, or was there a local producer?
I marvel at this stunner at Carmarthen and Orange St.
And this beauty on Douglas Ave has a pretty addition too (it’s carriage house could have been featured in my other blog – this property has a lot of cool features).
I know this blog just starts to scratch the surface of our sunroom additions in Saint John. I hope we can use this as a start to a discussion where we document and celebrate the sunroom additions we have. I may continually update this page with beauties I come across.
Lovely read. Beautiful sunrooms! Thank you for sharing. We had a “sun porch” growing up.This was on the third floor of a three story brick building. A door off the kitchen led to this lovely play area for us. To the south we could see the Bay of Fundy, to the west over other rooftops we could see Queen Square. To the north the parking lot across the street with a huge cement wall on to Mecklenberg Street (up hill). My mother kept a flower garden and vines on the wall at the end of this lot. Now the sun porch is long gone and homes have been built over the parking lot.
I love this description – thanks for sharing!