CBS couple awarded for restoration of Brigus heritage home

By Olivia Bradbury / Local Journalism Initiative Reporter

A family from Conception Bay South have won a prestigious Southcott Award for their work preserving an old house in Brigus.
The awards are presented by the Newfoundland and Labrador Historic Trust to recognize and encourage efforts to preserve Newfoundland architecture.
Stephen and Stacey Burfitt of Foxtrap earned the honour for their renovation and restoration of the Brigus home known as the Fowler House.
Burfitt said as a child, he often visited Brigus with his family. They had relatives there and would also attend events such as the Blueberry Festival. Years later, with a family of his own, Burfitt, his wife and three children started making their visits to the picturesque town.
It was on one of these excursions that he and Stacey noticed Fowler House. They had taken their children to Brigus for a picnic and, as they drove around afterwards, they spotted the yellow, three-storied structure and its “For Sale” sign. Stephen immediately called a realtor.
“We just knew we wanted to make it work somehow,” said Burfitt. “We just fell in love with the charm of the house. Kind of a love at first sight type of thing.”
The couple realized it was a fixer-upper when they purchased it in 2017. The realtor informed them that some funding would be available from Heritage NL for renovations. However, the Burfitts did not realize just how much work the building would require. By 2020, it became evident that if they did not do something with the house soon it would fall into even worse condition — they could see rot outside and near the windows. So, they put out a call for contractors, and contacted Heritage NL about funding.
Since then, the exterior renovations have been completed, and the house has been adorned with new clapboard, structural supports, insulation, and roof. Burfitt credits Brad Baldwin and his crew from BBMJ Contracting for the work. The house’s windows have also been evaluated, restored, or replaced where necessary by Neil Hammond of Hammond Woodworking. The wiring and the plumbing inside the house still needs to be updated. Though he works full-time with Konigsberg Maritime, repairing and maintaining electronics on supply vessels and shuttle tankers, Burfitt hopes to complete the bulk of the interior renovations himself.
A friend of the couple suggested they make social media accounts for the house and its renovations to garner community interest. The Burfitts did just that, making Facebook and Instagram accounts under the name “Brigus – Twine Loft House”. The couple is considering turning the home into an Airbnb to recoup the costs of the renovations, a plan which could also benefit from a catchier title.
While the Burfitts were aware Fowler House was a heritage home when they bought it, they did not know many details about its history. Since then, they have learned a lot about the house from others, many of whom they connected with thanks to social media.
The Fowler House was built around 1850 by William Green for the Garland family. It seems that Mr. Garland was a mariner. The house is one of few in Newfoundland that still has its original roller, a device for pulling up fishing nets to be mended. Mending took place in the house’s twine loft, which inspired the name given to the building by the Burfitts. Ms. Garland was a milliner who ran a hat shop in the building. Hats would be displayed behind the main front window. This shop became the setting of a Brigus ghost story. Ms. Garland would come down every morning to find that her displayed hats had been knocked over during the night. For decades, it was rumoured to be the work of an apparently hat-hating spectre. However, it was eventually revealed to be the mischief of children, who had discovered a small hole in the window and knocked the hats over with wire from the outside.
After the Garlands, the house had various owners, including the Fowler family for whom it came to be named. According to a timeline compiled by Megan Webb, the house was owned and lived in by members of the Fowler family from the 1920s until the mid-1990s.
Of the original house, the upstairs floorboards and twine loft remain. The house’s unique location is also worth noting: it is built into a cliff, and each of the three floors has a door on ground level. Burfitt said his family cannot wait to go back to the house, and that their kids love it there. He joked that, even if the house were not ready to be lived in, they would camp in it just to go back. He hopes that by this coming fall the house will have water, heating, and insulation. Ideally, he and Stacey would like to retire there someday.
The Burfitts did not know they had been nominated for a Southcott Award until they were informed they had won. There were four categories, with the Burfitts winning for Heritage Restoration. While they could not accept the award in person, they sent an acceptance speech to be read on their behalf. In it, they thanked Baldwin and his team, as well as Hammond. They also thanked Rex Passion for his knowledge of wooden windows and connecting them with Hammond, and Dale Jarvis and those at Heritage NL for their contributions to the restoration. “We wouldn’t be where we are today without you,” the Burfitts wrote, “and we promise to maintain this home for as long as we can, continuing our commitment to preserving some of Newfoundland and Labrador’s history.”