Description of Historic Place

The John Rodway Senior Residence consists of a steeply pitched gable roof house, a shed and a forge located at the mouth of the harbour on Rodway’s Point in Baine Harbour, Placentia Bay. The designation is confined to the footprint of the three buildings.

Heritage Value

The John Rodway Senior Residence was designated a Registered Heritage Structure because it has historical, environmental, aesthetic and cultural values.

The John Rodway Senior Residence has historic value because it consists of the remaining structures built by the prosperous merchant, John Rodway Senior. The Rodway family operated a very successful dry goods and fish buying business that served the entire region of Placentia Bay for several decades. The residence symbolizes the key commercial impact the Rodway’s had on the area. The remaining house, shed and forge are all that is left of the once thriving Placentia Bay economy, lead largely by the Rodway’s.

The residence is also historically significant because it is believed to be the oldest cluster of buildings in the area, constructed sometime in the 1890s.

The John Rodway Senior Residence has environmental value because of its physical location. Situated on a point of land known as “Rodway’s Point” the property is found at the sea entrance of Baine Harbour. This is significant because the primary economy was fisheries based, so all trade, export, import and other commercial activities were based from the waterfront. The Rodway’s key location enabled them first access to the incoming ships. They had a complete view of the harbour and of approaching sea traffic, and were highly visible from the road leading into the community. This strategic location separated the Rodway business from others further inland and so reduced competition.

The John Rodway Senior Residence has aesthetic value because it is one of only a few remaining 19th century vernacular merchant homes in the area. It is unique in its community as the architecture contrasts from other homes in the town.

The house has a steeply pitched gable roof with a small linhay at the rear; a later extension on the house. The simplicity of the house, with narrow wooden clapboard, plain, flat window trim with small shelves, is punctuated by the decorative eaves brackets and column ornaments at the top of the wide corner boards. The single hung, 2/2 windows are typical of the style and age of the house. The front door is inset, lined with wooden panels and flanked by fluted pilasters. The nearby shed and forge are strictly utilitarian and each structure is primarily unadorned. They have mid pitched gable roofs and are sheathed in narrow wooden clapboard.

The John Rodway Senior Residence has cultural value because it is symbolic of the thriving fisheries economy of Baine Harbour and Placentia Bay during the late 19th and early 20th centuries. It represents a cultural and economic history that has largely been lost to the region.

Source: Heritage Foundation of Newfoundland and Labrador files FPD ID 590 Baine Harbour – John Rodway Senior Residence.

Character-Defining Elements

All those features of 19th century vernacular merchant construction, including:
- narrow wooden clapboard;
- plain window trim;
- single hung, 2/2 windows;
- wide cornerboards with decorative capitals;
- eaves brackets;
- inset door with wooden panels;
- fluted pilasters.

All those remaining elements of the property that represent the overall Rodway complex, including:
- the forge;
- the shed.

All those original details of the property, including:
- location at the mouth of the harbour;
- general massing;
- orientation;
- dimensions.