Description of Historic Place

078 Prescott Street is a two storey 19th century mercantile building located at the corner of Prescott and Flavin Streets in the downtown core of St. John’s. The designation is confined to the footprint of the building.

Heritage Value

078 Prescott Street is designated a municipal heritage structure because it holds aesthetic value.

078 Prescott Street is aesthetically valuable because it is a good example of 19th century vernacular mercantile construction. Located on the corner of Prescott and Flavin Streets this building is uniquely designed to fit the lot on which it sits. This building is a two storey, flat roofed structure with narrow wooden clapboard and overhanging eaves. It wraps around two city streets with a truncated front façade with a recessed main entrance. 078 Prescott Street still retains its original wooden mouldings, fascia boards and sign bands which remain in an unpainted condition. The large plate glass windows indicate the commercial nature of this building, while the second floor window fenestration indicates residential or office space. These second storey windows are 1/1 and have small, eared shelves and narrow mouldings. This building is attached to 074/ 076 Prescott Street and both structures are architecturally similar.

City of St. John's Archives, unnumbered property file, St. John's - 078 Prescott Street

Character-Defining Elements

All those elements that reflect the 19th century mercantile style, including:
-unique footprint;
-recessed front door;
-plate glass windows;
-narrow wood clapboard;
-flat roof with extended eaves;
-1/1 windows with small shelf and narrow mouldings;
-original wooden trim, mouldings, fascia boards and sign bands; and
-size, massing and orientation.