Description of Historic Place

Located on Church Lane in Tilting, the Lane House is a wooden two and storey house with a steep gable roof. Constructed circa 1840 by Irish immigrant Augustin MacNamara, the designation is confined to the footprint of the building.

Heritage Value

The Lane House has been designated because of its historic, aesthetic and cultural value.

The Lane House has historic value both for its age and its association with Irish settlement on the northeast coast of the island of Newfoundland. Oral tradition has it that the house was built in the 1830s by Irish immigrant Augustin MacNamara. This would make it perhaps the oldest built structure in Tilting and among the oldest in the province. The community of Tilting was founded by Irish immigrants such as MacNamara and the Lane House serves as a physical reminder of this settlement pattern and the types of homes designed by early settlers to the region.

The building has architectural value because of its style and design, as well as the craftsmanship evident in its construction. The original house was constructed in a salt box style, a form of vernacular construction featuring a two-room ground floor plan with back linhay. This style was common among first generation settlers to the region and was an accepted form of early housing throughout the province. An ingenious spiral staircase connected the storeys, its construction similar to that of a wooden barrel. MacNamara was a cooper and it is possible that he transferred this knowledge to the design of the staircase. The second owner, Aneas Dwyer, raised the second storey, utilizing a centre hall floor plan in the second storey. To compensate for incongruity in terms of window placement, trim board and the decorative use of clapboard was employed on the ground floor to create a central stylist element. This unique combination of housing styles speaks to the skill of the builder (oral tradition reports that Dwyer completed the renovations in one day) and the impulse in many parts of Newfoundland and Labrador to recycle and redesign older homes.

The Lane House has cultural value as it evokes a certain sense of time and place. It stands as a physical and visual reminder of early settlement on the northeast coast, particularly in the Irish enclave of Tilting, and speaks to the resourcefulness of early builders, who utilized older homes and converted them to meet the evolving needs of their inhabitants.

Source: Heritage Foundation of Newfoundland and Labrador unnumbered property designation file Tilting - Lane House

Character-Defining Elements

All those exterior features that are representative of the vernacular architecture traditions of Tilting, Fogo Island, including:
-number of storeys;
-steep gable roof;
-wooden roof shingles;
-boxed eave brackets;
-narrow clapboard;
-corner boards;
-window size, style, trim and placement;
-location of only entrance on left gable end;
-size, style and trim of exterior door;
-original chimney style and placement;
-dimension, location and orientation of building;
-outline of original roof line and windows on right gable end;
-decorative use of clapboard on the bias on front facade;
-decorative use of vertical and horizontal trim board on front facade;

All those interior features that are reflective of the building's age, and architectural adaptation over time, including:
-ground floor hall and parlour plan;
-second storey centre hall plan;
-spiral interior staircase.