Look for a grand, castle-like stone building covered in thick ivy, with a tower peeking up and big red doors right at the front.
Now, take a moment to drink in the sight of Caverhill Hall-a true castle in the heart of Saint John! Built in 1884 for Simeon Jones, the city’s mayor and a real mover and shaker, it stands like something out of a storybook, with its thick limestone walls, turreted corners, and those red doors that almost seem ready to swing open for visiting royalty-because, guess what, they actually did! Imagine the clop of horses and shimmering carriages in 1901, when George V and Mary of Teck were hosted right here by Jones’s son. The hall must have buzzed with excitement and nerves-just think of all the last-minute dusting!
This place has lived many lives. During World War I, Caverhill Hall was transformed into a soldier's club, echoing with laughter, footsteps, and the clinking of glasses as men and women found comfort from wartime worries. Soon after, it commanded attention again as the headquarters for Military District No. 7-an address with serious business. In 1922, the echoes of military drills were replaced by the softer footsteps of nurses and patients as it opened as the St. John Health Centre, patching up the community for five years.
But wait, the party wasn’t over! After WWII, imagine dance music and cheerful shouts drifting from the Royal Canadian Air Force Social Club inside, and in later years the nightspot called the 1880 kept things lively. And if you think the real mystery is cracking the price-it once sat on the market at $800,000, only to finally sell for just under $400,000 in 2012, ivy and all. Through all its transformations, Caverhill Hall remains a handsome fortress full of secrets-if those old stones could talk, who knows what they’d whisper!
