Drake House (Newfoundland) - Construction Type

Construction Type

The house itself is of wood construction with a tar paper roof, and follows a standard Georgian central hall plan. On the exterior, the building features decorative woodwork on the corner boards and above the windows and central doorway on the main facade. Interestingly, historical photographs indicate that the central doorway, with its original etched glass door intact, never had a bridge or stairway leading to it. The door then was probably never used as an entranceway, neither before nor after its relocation from Haystack.

There has been little change made to the interior of the building, and the upstairs portion of the house in particular is well preserved. The interior features a fine central staircase, unpainted wood trim, and largely unpainted tongue and groove ceilings with wood medallions. Several original pieces of furniture, a trunk of papers belonging to Frank Drake, old patent medicine bottles, a bed with its original straw mattress, and many other artifacts dating to the resettlement period remain in the building.