The Adam Mouland Property is located at 74 Roper Street in the historic Mockbeggar district of Bonavista, NL. The property includes a two-storey wooden house with a steeply pitched gable roof, and a fisherman’s store (storage shed). The municipal heritage designation includes the house, store, as well as the surrounding wooden fence.
Statement of Significance
Formal Recognition Type
Municipal Heritage Building, Structure or Land
The Adam Mouland Property has been designated a municipal heritage site by the Town of Bonavista due to its aesthetic and historic values.
Adam Mouland Property has aesthetic value as it is a good example of how outport builders in Bonavista interpreted the gable roofed house style. The wooden house’s symmetrical façade is a typical element of residential architecture in Newfoundland throughout the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, while its simple yet decorative window and door trims reflect the builder’s style and craftsmanship.
The Adam Mouland Property is historically significant because it is representative of an era when the inshore fishery loomed large in the local economy and the cultural landscape clearly reflected inhabitants’ connection to that industry. In 1913, when the house was constructed, it was common for residents to have a number of fishery related outbuildings for storing and maintaining gear on their properties. The fish store located at the rear of the property on the Adam Mouland Property retains its traditional red ochre colouring and overall vernacular style, serving as a reminder of the historic connection of the area to the fishery. Similarly, the picket fence that surrounds the Mouland Property serves as a reminder of a time when it was also common to keep livestock for domestic use. Fences not only delineated boundaries or added aesthetic interest to a property, but chiefly served the basic function of controlling the mobility of wandering sheep, horses, cows or goats.
Character Defining Elements
All original exterior features which relate to the age and style of the house including:
– original form with steep pitched gable roof;
– wooden sheathing and cornerboards;
– rain caps and decorative door and window trims;
– size, type and symmetrical placement of windows and door in the front façade;
– brick chimney;
– and roof ladder.
All original exterior features which relate to the age, style and original function of the fish store including:
– form, height and dimensions;
– pitch roof;
– red ochre colour paint exterior;
– wood sheathing;
– simplicity of decoration;
– the type and placement of doors;
– and the massing of the store in relation to the house.
– the traditional-type wooden fencing on the property.