Mallard Cottage

Backgrounder

Mallard Cottage is typical of the housing built by immigrants from southeast Ireland who settled in Newfoundland during the first half of the nineteenth century. Built between 1820 and 1840, this picturesque frame cottage served as the home of the Mallard family who settled in the village of Quidi Vidi in the early 19^th century, just outside the present-day city of St. John’s. The house remained in the Mallard family for many generations, until it was sold in the 1980s.

 

The cottage’s form conveys its vernacular Irish origins with characteristic features including low hipped-roof, storey-and-a-half, and two-room central chimney plan. Originally a massive walk-in hearth would have divided the two rooms that served as kitchen and parlour. The frame construction is covered on the exterior with beaded clapboard. The five-bay façade has classical influences in it symmetry and details found in other vernacular Newfoundland houses of this era.

Recent renovations have retained much of the cottage’s authenticity.

Search for related information by keyword

Hon. Catherine McKenna Parks Canada History and Archaeology