Description of Historic Place

Holman Building is located on King Street in the City of Saint John. It is a 3-storey brick Italianate-Style commercial building in the Trinity Royal area

Heritage Value

Holman Building is designated a Local Historic Place because it is an expression of the significance of the rebuilding of a Saint John commercial district after the Great Saint John Fire of 1877. This building is one of a collection of commercial, Italianate and Second Empire buildings that were built between 1877 and 1881 after two thirds of the City of Saint John was destroyed by the fire in 1877. The brick architecture sent a message that the city would be more fire resistant in the future.

The building is recognized for the some of the entrepreneurs that occupied the building. The east side of the building was occupied in 1897 by F. E. Holman and Company, wholesale and retail dealers in wallpaper. This company included F. R. Butcher who joined the operation in 1885. Holman and Butcher were from Prince Edward Island. Empire Wallpaper Ltd remained in the Holman Building for more than 60 years.

The first occupants of the west side of the building were dry goods merchants. In 1885, George Robertson and Company, grocers and West Indies merchants, moved into this building. The retail outlet closed its doors in 1895. The west side of this building also housed Sharpes Jewellery store during the Great Depression and Wasson's Spa and Ken's Spa Rest from the early 1940's to the late 1960's. The building was recognized in the City of Saint John Preservation Areas Bylaw in 1982.

Source: Planning and Development Department: City of Saint John.

Character-Defining Elements

The Character Defining Elements that characterize the Italianate Style include:
-corbel bands at the cornice;
-recessed and decorative brickwork below the cornice;
-decorative sandstone entablatures with mouldings supported by two small doric columns dividing the triple windows;
-pilaster running through the centre of the façade separating the two bays;
-large plate glass windows in storefront with transom windows;
-recessed entranceways with transom windows;
-overhanging bracketed storefront cornice;
-three storefront pilasters;
-sharing the same setback as the other buildings on the block.