The Four Sisters of Temperance Street

Above St. John's Harbour, four remarkable stone houses seem to cling to the steep hillside of Temperance Street.

They're known as The Four Sisters, and their story begins with a father who wanted to give his daughters something extraordinary.

IBetween 1893 and 1903, prominent St. John's stonemason Samuel Garrett built four three-storey houses at 31, 33, 35 and 37 Temperance Street. According to the historical record, Garrett intended them as wedding gifts for his four daughters.

Garrett was no ordinary builder. He was one of the city's celebrated stonemasons and is best known for his work on Cabot Tower on Signal Hill.

And here's one of the fascinating details about these houses: some of the stone used to build them reportedly came from surplus sandstone and slate from Cabot Tower, along with stone from the dismantled St. George's Hospital.

The houses were built in the Second Empire style, with thick red sandstone and slate walls, mansard roofs and dormer windows. The walls were approximately two feet thick, with an air space between the stone and the interior wooden framework to provide insulation and help protect the buildings from rot.

Because the houses were built into the steep hillside, they have a wonderfully unusual appearance. From certain angles, they almost seem to lean toward the harbour.

But the family story behind them is even more interesting.

Garrett's daughters didn't all end up living in the houses as originally intended. His daughter Lauretta McFarlane moved into number 35 after it was completed in 1901.

Another daughter, Emily Dewling, lived at number 37. The other houses were rented before eventually being occupied by Garrett's grandchildren.

And then there's a wonderful piece of local folklore about the houses.

For years, people have told stories that underground tunnels connected the basements of the four houses, allowing the sisters to visit one another without going outside.

I have been inside of one of the houses, and I did see what looked like a tunnel that had been bricked up.

Whether those tunnels ever existed is another question, but it certainly adds to the mystery of the Four Sisters.

The buildings were eventually designated Registered Heritage Structures in 1988.

Today, they stand as a remarkable reminder of Victorian-era St. John's, and of one father's ambition to build something lasting for his family.

Four houses.

Four sisters.

And nearly 130 years of history carved into the stone above St. John's Harbour.