Description of Historic Place

The Minto Hotel Sample Rooms consist of an early 20th century three-story Greek Revival brick commercial building with a ground level storefront. It is located at Robinson Court, just north of Main Street in Moncton.

Heritage Value

The Minto Hotel Sample Rooms structure was designated for its Greek Revival architecture and level of preservation. This building is a good example of commercial Greek Revival design from this era. The square massing, symmetrical fenestration and storefront entablature are distinctive features of this style. This structure is a rare example of sample rooms for traveling commercial vendors to show their wares. These particular sample rooms were associated with the nearby Minto Hotel. The current brick building, erected by Ambrose Wheeler for owner Carl Doull, replaced a wooden structure erected in 1904 that was razed by fire in 1922. During the period of the Scott Act in the 1920’s, Mr. Doull was found guilty of rum running out of this location. The authorities discovered a false foundation wall in the basement that concealed a liquor storeroom. This wall and room, along with the hole in the wall punched in by the police during the raid, still exist. It remained sample rooms until c1940.

In 1996, the Minto Hotel Sample Rooms were designated as a Moncton Heritage Property under By-Law #Z-1102.

Source: Moncton Museum, Moncton, New Brunswick - second floor files – “196 Robinson”.

Character-Defining Elements

The character-defining elements relating to location and context include:
- location on site of original wooden structure.

The character-defining structural elements include:
- three-story square massing;
- common bond brick walls;
- flat roof.

The character-defining elements relating to the exterior of the structure include:
- symmetrical fenestration;
- light-coloured brick quoins;
- original storefront bulkhead layout;
- moulded entablature over storefront;
- brick pilasters;
- 6 over 6 windows;
- plain lug sills and lintels;
- soldier bond stringcourse in light-coloured brick under narrow cornice.

The character-defining elements that relate to the interior include:
- original hardwood floors;
- original baseboards;
- exposed brick and terra cotta tile;
- original door trim;
- exposed timber joists;
- false foundation wall;
- concealed liquor storeroom.