Architecture of St. John's, Newfoundland and Labrador

The Great Fire of 1892 destroyed most of the downtown core, and most residential and other wood-frame buildings date from this period.

Often compared to San Francisco because of its hilly terrain and steep maze of residential streets, housing in St. John's is typically painted in bright colours, unlike most other parts of Canada.

Due to St. John's being the oldest English settlement in North America to have grown into a city, many of its buildings have been designated by either the Minister of the Environment (upon the recommendations of the Historic Sites and Monuments Board of Canada) or the Heritage Foundation of Newfoundland and Labrador as historic places.

Starting in 1764 the Governor of Newfoundland, Hugh Palliser imposed restrictions on the construction of homes in St. John's to discourage permanent settlement.

[3] The most common form of residential building in this period was a one-and-a-half or two-and-a-half story wooden house with a hip roof.

Located at the base of Signal Hill, it was originally built as a military barracks in 1804 and is likely the oldest surviving building in St.

[7] As a result, the core of the city was destroyed in the Great Fire of 1846 and few buildings built in this period have survived to the present day.

The Basilica was designed by Ole Joergen Schmidt of Hamburg in the Lombard Romanesque style.

The building was faced with limestone from Galway and the mouldings, cornices and window frames were made from granite from Dublin.

The cornerstone for the cathedral was laid in 1843 but construction was delayed when the Great Fire of 1846 destroyed the stone that was imported for the building.

The construction of the Choir and Transept sections was not completed until 1885, giving the cathedral a Latin Cross shape.

The building was originally used by the merchant Richard O'Dwyer as a warehouse for exporting salt fish and importing other goods.

In the wake of the fire there was a large influx of money from insurance and donations which led to a building boom in the city.

The distinguishing features of this style of house are a mansard roof and hooded dormer windows on the top floor.

The most notable example of this style of architecture is Winterholme, located next to Bannerman Park in the center of the city.