Description of Historic Place

Magee Apartment Building is located on Germain Street in the City of Saint John. Built in circa 1896, it is a three-storey 5 unit brick Italianate-Style apartment building.

Heritage Value

Magee Apartment Building is designated a Local Historic Place for its architecture and for its association with the owner and tenants. It has serviced the City of Saint John in a residential capacity since 1896.

Richard Magee was the owner of the apartment building. Mr. Magee has been associated with, and given credit for, the growth and improvements of East Saint John. This three-storey 5 unit brick structure is a good example of an Italianate-Style apartment building from the late 19th century.

The heritage value of the building is also recognized by some of the tenants that occupied the building. Two of the occupants were outstanding workers for the Jewish community of Saint John.

The Hart family was one of the first Jewish families to establish themselves in business in Saint John. Abram Hart lived in one of the apartments in the early 1900's. He was a cigar manufacturer just like his father.

The second important tenant of this building was Mary Kunitzky. She was a member of the Senior Hadassah Chapter of Saint John, the Daughters of Israel, and the Ladies Auxiliary of the congregation Shaare Zedek. She and her husband David lived in one of the apartment since about 1920.

Source: Planning and Development Department –City of Saint John

Character-Defining Elements

The character defining elements that define this apartment building are as follows:
- building height and width proportions
- placement of windows and their proportions;
- placement of the entrance;
- cornice and corbel bands;
- decorative blocks at both ends of the cornice;
- three projecting lines of brick that run from end to end and forms over the arches above the openings on all three floors;
- flush arches above the openings;
- projecting sandstone sills;
- projecting courses of brick along the street level and forming around the entranceway;
- arched entranceway;
- wooden door with glass panels and transom window above;
- two concrete steps for the entrance.

The character-defining elements that define this Magee Apartment Building include:
- proportional height and width for the building;
- sharing the same set-back as the neighbouring buildings on the block;
- proportional placement of windows;
- placement of the entrance;
- cornice and corbel bands;
- decorative blocks at both ends of the cornice;
- three projecting lines of brick running from end to end and forming over the arches above the openings on all three floors;
- flush arches above the openings;
- projecting sandstone sills;
- projecting courses of brick along the street level and forming around the entranceway;
- arched entranceway;
- wooden door with glass panels and transom window above;
- two concrete steps for the entrance.