Houses of Architectural interest along Forest Road, St. John's, Newfoundland

The text below includes notes for an arhictect friend living in India.

Forest Road is somewhat special for the diversity and ages of the houses and the varied institutional setting. A the top end (beginning) of the street are a few grand old houses that would have escaped the great fire of July1892 which destroyed 80% of the city. In the early 1900's this was a prime location for the City's elite and several of the oldest houses are quite grand. 

1. Quidi Vidi Village

Prime Minister Monroe lived on Forest Road. His house (photo #15) which is now used as a bed-and-breakfast inn. However, further along the street beyond Her Majesty's Penitentiary and the Anglican Cemetery housing development occurred later (I guess) 1920's to 1960's for some professionals but mostly for ordinary folks. In recent years a few of the old houses have been torn down and replaced by apartments and latterly condominiums. 

2. Quidi Vidi Village on piles

Some of the old houses have been so extensively renovated as to have changed their character completely, but only one 2 or 3 fall into this category. You will notice that all the houses are of wooden construction, except Hampton Terrance Condo where I live which is of concrete and brick construction. Even the heritage house, built in 1843 (photo # 14) with its Grecian columns is all in wood. In other cities in Canada you will see many houses constructed in brick or concrete. The virtue of wooden construction is the ability to choose any colour one fancies to beautify one's home, as a result the wonderful variety of colours of homes is a particular and pleasing feature of our City. 

3. Country house with mother in law door

As the level of pollution is low and coal no longer used in factories or for domestic heating there is nothing to besmirch the beauty of our streetscapes. The down side of wooden houses is the risk of fire. Occasionally there are house fires when lives are lost, most recently a boarding house fire in which Salvadorean immigrant and distant relative of one of my friends died. The cause was arson and the perpetrator has been convicted and is awaiting sentencing.


4. Forest Road bungalows

Housing construction in Canada in constrained by the climate. Heating of homes is expensive so houses are almost always built in compact-cubic or rectangular shapes to reduce exposure and minimize heating costs. In the old days houses were heated by multiple fire places or for poorer families relied mainly on the kitchen stove for heating. Today most city houses have central heating either in the original design (hot-water radiators), electric heating elements  in each room or hot-air heating. Now-a-days a further constraint to architechtural imagination is the cost of labour. This is most manifest in commercial and public buildings where you will rarely see any artistic embellishment. 

5. Forest Road typical bungalow

For such buildings layouts tend to be simple and variety is mainly achieved by choice of building materials often glass or ceramics in various colours for the exteriors. The only other institutional building in the Miller Hospital Centre it was probably built in the 1960's before use of glass or ceramic sidings became popular. It is a very plain and uninteresting building.


6. Forest Road, a grand home

On the question of heating one of the benefits of living in a condominium and located half way up is that I have only one exposed wall. Luckily it faces south and on sunny days captures the heat from the sun's rays. I set my thermostat at 15 deg C year round and only turn it up on very cold days. Essentially, my neighbours on four sides donate heat. I also receive heat from the stairwell. Thanks guys! I pay a uniform monthy rate of $60/mo. Private homes, especially older ones may pay up to $450/mo!!

7. A lovely old style house



8. Row houses

9. Old house of a wealthy family

10. Old house, another view

11. Where I stayed in 1966 on my first visit to St. John's.

12. A fine old home

13. A grand old house, a century old perhaps

14. Heritage home, the grandest in the city

15. Monroe house, home of prime minister Monroe



16. Row houses



17. Salt box style house on lane

18. Her majesty's prison

19. Anglican cemetery

20. Miller hospital centre

21. Hampton Terrace condo

- fin -




Beautiful blue butterfly

VISIT TO INDIA OCT. 6 to DEC. 22, 2008

My second visit to India was from Oct 6 to Dec 22, 2008. On this occasion I worked as a hydro-technical specialist with Indo Canadian Consultancy Services Ltd. (ICCS) a joint venture partner between Bhilwara Energy and RSW Inc. of Montreal. ICCS is located in Noida a suburb of Delhi and is a substantial company with a staff of about 80 engineers. The typical work day was from 9:30 am until 7:00 pm, alternating between 5 and 6 day work weeks. The work was challenging but I enjoyed working with ICCS’s talented young engineers. Much was expected of me as I was being paid a Canadian salary much above what my Indian colleagues were receiving. The high-lights of this visit were two weddings I attended while I was there.

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WEDDING OF RISHABH AND ESHU

This wedding was a spectacle to be remembered. It was between Rishabh Jhunjhunwala and Eshu Arya. Rishabh is the heir of a large family enterprise. The family fortune comes mainly from textile manufacturing - but in recent years they have expanded into the energy (notably hydropower), suit and fine clothes manufacturing and retail and high tech manufacturing of carbon electrodes. Their corporate name is Bhilwara Enterprises Ltd. ICCS where I worked is a joint venture engineering company between Bhilwara Energy and RSW Inc. of Montreal. The wedding was on a farm near Delhi where pavilions for dining, entertainment, a temple for the wedding ceremony, greeting stage and support facilities such as washrooms and kitchens had all been constructed for the occasion. In addition to family and friends managers responsible for Bhilwara divisions both in India and abroad had been invited including our small group from RSW Inc. It was quite an honour to be included. All of us foreigners were dressed up as Rajputs wearing turbans of the style one would see in Rajasthan the home country of the Jhunjhunwala clan. Unlike the other weddings I had attended before the religious ceremony was held at a convenient hour about 9:00 pm. The pandit (priest) spoke very clearly and the quality of the sound system was excellent and I was pleased to be able to understand a fair amount of the proceedings – the parts in Hindi that is, not the elements in Sanskrit! The evening temperature was quite cool around 9oC as we were well into the Delhi winter season. Enjoy the pictures. (The pictures were taken by Mohamed Badr of RSW Inc. as my own photos were lost when my computer crashed).

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Photo tags:
Photo 1. Claudio Vissa and wife arriving
Photo 2. Folks from RSW Inc
Photo 3. Colleauges
Photo 4. Time for tea
Photo 5. Guests
Photo 6. Ceremony
Photo 7. Esha and Reshabh
Photo 8. Listening
Photo 9. Relaxing
Photo 10. Entertainment
Photo 11. Supper
Photo 12. Greeting
Photo 13. Fireworks at the end of the evening

WEDDING OF ANUKARAN AND NIVEDITA

This set of photos covers the engagement party, wedding and home coming for Anu and Nivedita. Anu is the son of Anil Deshwal and his wife Madhu. Anil is Naipal’s brother-in-law. I am considered an adopted uncle and was therefore treated as a member of the family.

I joined Naipal at the engagement party in Badhave, my third visit to the village. The engagement party recognise the commitment of the bride’s family to the marriage so it wasn’t necessary for the bride to attend! The party held on Nov 19, 2008 was an occasion for family, friends and village neighbours to join in the festivities.

The second occasion was at the wedding itself that was held in Delhi on Nov 25, 2008, if my memory serves me right. Anu arrived appropriately on a white horse. Guests included family and friends from both the bride and groom’s families. Guests came from many parts of India, U.K., U.S. and Canada. A lavish feast of snacks, main course and deserts was provided under the star lit sky. There was music and dancing as well. The wedding feast was mainly an occasion for the two families to meet together. The religious wedding was held later in the night at an hour determined by the pandits (priests). Generally, only close family attend. After eating too much and enjoying meeting the interesting family and friends I left at 11:00 pm to return to the Guest House in Noida.

Finally, around Dec 5, 2008 there was the home coming when the bride and groom came over to meet the groom’s family. The occasion was a home cooked supper at Surendrapal and Kalpana’s home in Noida. Kalpana is Anil’s sister and Anu’s auntie.

Anu and Nivedita are both accomplished young people. Anu works for Citi Bank’s real estate division while Nevedita works as an editor in a travel magazine. They were planning their honeymoon in Mauritius. My photos give an impression of the occasions.