Description of Historic Place

The Bennett House, located in Daniel’s Harbour is a two storey house with a low pitched, hipped roof and was the home of Nurse Myra Bennett and her husband Angus for almost 70 years. This designation is confined to the footprint of the building.

Heritage Value

The Bennett House is designated as a Registered Heritage Structure due to its historic value, architectural value.

Historically, the Bennett House is valuable for its association with Nurse Myra Bennett. Bennett came to Newfoundland from England in 1921 and upon arrival was posted on the Great Northern Peninsula. Nurse Bennett was responsible for providing medical attention to people in communities from Bonne Bay and north. The Bennett House was the home of Nurse Bennett and her husband Angus for almost 70 years and the house also held a small clinic that Nurse Bennett used to treat patients in the area. The house was also a place for travellers to stay, including members of the Grenfell Mission during the winter. Nurse Bennett’s reputation as a caregiver preceded her and she soon became known throughout the region simply as “the nurse.” It has been said that during her career as a nurse in Newfoundland she delivered over 5000 babies and extracted over 3000 teeth. The Bennett House is historically valuable because it stands as a physical testament to her legacy.

Architecturally, the Bennett House provides a good example of an owner built house in rural Newfoundland. Built by Nurse Bennett’s husband, Angus the house has few remaining contemporaries in Daniel’s Harbour and in its day it was likely an ambitious project for a resident of this community.

The house is essentially a conventional double-bayed, stick framed dwelling with a low pitch, hipped roof with an attached clinic that is representative of the way in which the Bennetts lived, there was no distinction between work and home.

Source: Heritage Foundation of Newfoundland and Labrador unnumbered property designation file: Daniel’s Harbour-Bennett House .

Character-Defining Elements

All those features of the building which speak to its simple, vernacular design, including:
-low pitched, hipped roof;
-attached clinic;
-three bay front façade;
-single hung 1/1 windows;
-narrow wooden clapboard;
-hipped roof bays;
-building height, massing, and dimensions; and,
-wooden construction.