This 2 ½-storey Queen Anne Revival dwelling is situated on the corner of University Avenue and Lansdowne Street at 342 University Avenue.
Heritage Value
The heritage value of this 1905 dwelling is associated its its well-preserved Queen Anne Revival architectural design, with the life and career of Dr. Loring W. Bailey, and with its builder, Thomas Allen.
The son of the first professor of Chemistry, Mineralogy, and Geology at West Point Military Academy in New York, Loring W. Bailey accumulated considerable scientific knowledge from his father, Jacob Whitman Bailey. A graduate of Harvard, Loring W. Bailey was recommended in 1861, at the age of 21, as professor of Natural Science at UNB to fill the vacancy left by the death of Dr. James Robb. During his academic career, which spanned 46 years, Bailey taught a wide range of natural science courses and published about 100 scholarly works in his field.
It would be scientific investigations into the geology of the province that Bailey made his greatest impact on the intellectual community. So impressed was William Francis Ganong that he named a mountain in northern New Brunswick after Bailey in 1899.
Bailey shared his scientific knowledge with the community, even collaborating with local inventor, John Babbitt. Together Bailey and Babbitt constructed the first telephone in Fredericton and illuminated the first electric light. At the time of their experiments, Bailey and Babbitt lived across the street from one another, with Bailey residing on the southwest corner of University Avenue and Charlotte Street. In 1878, John Babbitt connected his house, on Charlotte Street, with his brother’s house at 311 University Avenue, and Bailey’s house, completing the first successful telephone transmission in Fredericton. The following year, Loring W. Bailey imported a battery from England, which he and John Babbitt used to generate electric light. From the portico of the university building, they used a parabolic reflector to cast a beam of light on the spire of the Cathedral and that of the Methodist Church in Marysville, to the amazement of both communities.
Bailey hired Thomas Allen in 1904 to build a new house on University Avenue. Thomas Allen, a son of Loyalist Colonel John Allen, was originally from Kingsclear. He was a half-brother of Sir John Allen, Chief Justice of New Brunswick, and uncle to Dr. T. Carleton Allen, Attorney General of New Brunswick. Building contractor and one-time member of City Council, Thomas Allen built almost exclusively in the vicinity of University Avenue. Allen purchased a lot on University Avenue from Dr. Bailey in 1913, building his own residence thereon.
This dwelling, completed in 1905, was the scene of a variety of social and intellectual gatherings. Dr. Bailey regularly hosted meetings of the Science Club in this house before his death in 1925.
Character-Defining Elements
Character-defining elements associated with the dwelling at 342 University Avenue include:
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2 ½-storey wood frame construction
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Queen Anne Revival style, embodied by its asymmetrical massing, variety of ornamentation and variety of roof lines
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Medium pitched gable roofs, and cross-gable ends, with pediment-like banding
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Large rectangular single-hung windows (often paired) surrounded by simple Classical trim; with arch-topped windows with keystones at the attic
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Second floor verandah at rear of house
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Open front porch with low slope roof set to the side of the main façade, and double wood entry door