Description of Historic Place

The Hilyard Residence is a wooden two-storey Italianate building with a central entrance and elaborate dormers. It is located on Douglas Avenue within the Douglas Avenue Preservation Area of Saint John.

Heritage Value

The Hilyard Residence is designated a Local Historic Place for its location, for its architecture and for its association with its former occupants.

The Hilyard Residence is recognized as a part of the Douglas Avenue Preservation Area. Douglas Avenue Preservation Area was recognized as a protected historic streetscape because of its fine mixture of working class tenements along with more substantial homes of the middle and wealthy classes, many of which have long-standing family connections spanning multiple generations as a result of its community atmosphere. Douglas Avenue was built in the mid 1850's to connect Main Street with the newly constructed suspension bridge at Reversing Falls. This area was formerly a part of the City of Portland before that city amalgamated with Saint John in 1889. The Hilyard Residence is an excellent example of Italianate residential architecture within this district.

The Hilyard Residence is also recognized for its association with the Hilyard family. Thomas Hilyard constructed this building sometime between 1862 and 1868. Born in Saint John, the son of a ship captain, Hilyard took up an apprenticeship as a ship carpenter while still a young man. He continued in this trade for several years before establishing his own ship building business on the property adjoining the present Hilyard Street, then known as Hilyard’s Shipyard. The business thrived during the peak of the ship building era in Saint John, establishing Thomas Hilyard as one of the foremost ship builders in Saint John. Following his death in 1873, his two sons, Thomas R. and Henry carried on the business. Thomas’ widow, Matilda Hilyard, continued to live in this residence with her son Henry and his family until her death in 1887. By this time, the firm was known as Hilyard Brothers. It had begun to alter its focus away from the dwindling ship building industry and towards the much more profitable lumber business. Henry continued to live in this residence with his family following the passing of his mother. In addition to the family business, he made a name for himself as a member of the Portland Council and mayor for one year before the town’s amalgamation with Saint John. During his career, he was also elected as the commissioner of the General Hospital and chairman of the nurse’s training school of that same institution. After his death in 1909, his son, George inherited the Douglas Avenue residence in addition to the Hilyard family business which he continued to operate for a number of years. In 1921, he became secretary of the H.C. Schofield and Company until establishing his own business in 1936. He continued to live at this Douglas Avenue residence until his death in 1968, bringing an end to the century-long Hilyard family association with this building.

Source: Planning and Development Department - City of Saint John

Character-Defining Elements

The character-defining elements that describe the Hilyard Residence include:
- two-storey square massing;
- hipped roof;
- clapboard siding;
- elaborate hipped-roof dormers with bracketed cornices, the front dormer having two Roman arch openings;
- projecting eaves supported by a series of paired, wooden, scrolled brackets;
- rectangular vertical sliding wood-framed windows;
- paired, Roman arch, vertical sliding, wooden windows centered directly above the entry;
- central entry with hipped roof;
- wooden Corinthian pilasters on either side of entry;
- highly ornate stained glass, rectangular transom window and sidelights surrounding a wooden four-panel door.