Description of Historic Place

The Archibald Bennett House is a two-and-a-half story house with a rounded gambrel roof. It is located along the main road in Brooklyn, Bonavista Bay, Newfoundland. The designation is confined to the footprint of the building.

Heritage Value

The Archibald Bennett House has been designated as a Registered Heritage Structure because of its architectural value.

Architecturally, the Archibald Bennett house is unique in both building style and decoration. The most notable feature of this house is the gambrel roof with a rounded truncation. This style of roof is rare in both the region and all over Newfoundland. The builder, Archibald Bennett, moved soon after he built this house, perhaps resulting in little repetition of this particular style.

Aesthetically, the Archibald Bennett house has a number of interesting decorative features that set it apart from the other houses in the region. The gable ends of the house have been decorated with diamond-shaped shingles and the eaves of the roof have decorative bargeboards. On the front facade there is a two-story bay which gives the building an appearance of grandeur, yet the simplicity of the details surrounding the windows and doors reflect the fact that this is an outport building.

Source: Heritage Foundation of Newfoundland and Labrador, unnumbered property file, "Brooklyn - Archibald Bennett House"

Character-Defining Elements

All original features which relate to the age and unique vernacular design of the property, including:
- rounded gambrel roof;
- decorative bargeboard;
- wooden shingles;
- two-story bay window;
- marrow clapboard;
- original windows, window placement and trim;
- original wooden doors and door placement;
- corner boards; and,
- raincaps over doors and windows.