Description of Historic Place

The Charles Buchanan Residence is a wooden two-and-a-half storey Second Empire building located on Orange Street, within the Orange Street Heritage Preservation Area of the City of Saint John.

Heritage Value

The Charles Buchanan Residence is designated a Local Historic Place for its architecture and for its association with its former occupants.

Charles Buchanan built this residence in 1876 as one of three buildings that occupied the end of the north block face of Orange Street in the mid 1870’s. This building stood one block outside of the fire boundary of the Great Saint John Fire of 1877 that destroyed two-thirds of the central peninsula of the City of Saint John. It is an example of pre-fire Second Empire residential architecture within the Orange Street Heritage Preservation Area of Saint John.

The Charles Buchanan Residence is recognized for its association with Charles Buchanan. He owned and operated a small, independent carpentry business in the City for a number of years. The fact that his house was spared from the devastating effects of the Great Saint John Fire did not prevent him from helping his many neighbours that had not been as fortunate. Buchanan played a significant role in the rebuilding that occurred after the fire and offered his services where he could for many years following. During the construction of a house on Meckleburg Street in 1892, Buchanan experienced a serious accident. He failed to recover from the incident and died a few weeks later in hospital at the age of 56. His wife continued to live at this Orange Street address until 1895. The house remained in the Buchanan family until 1918.

Source: Planning and Development Department - City of Saint John

Character-Defining Elements

The character defining elements that describe the Charles Buchanan Residence include:
- rectangular two-and-a-half storey massing;
- mansard roof;
- single and double dormer windows;
- rectangular 2/2 vertical sliding wooden windows;
- projecting cornice;
- double wooden doors with glass upper panels;
- two-paned, stained glass, rectangular transom window.