The hotel

Tales of parties on the north shore started well before the Great War.

Back in the 1800s, anyone who was anyone had to be seen at the Royal Lake Pavilion on Quidi Vidi Lake.

A rare image of the Royal Lake Pavillion in Quidi Vidi in the 1890s. (MUN Special Collections and Archives) Post image on Pinterest: A rare image of the Royal Lake Pavillion in Quidi Vidi in the 1890s. (MUN Special Collections and Archives)

A rare image of the Royal Lake Pavillion in Quidi Vidi in the 1890s. (MUN Special Collections and Archives)

It was known as a “roadhouse,” an elaborate building with a restaurant and rooms, which was owned by an eccentric man by the name of Professor Charles Danielle.

Born in Maryland in the 1830s, Danielle mysteriously showed up on the shores of St. John's some 30 years later. He was a visionary, with a penchant for elegance and large, lavish displays.

"In the parlance of the day, Charles Danielle would be described as a big personality," said Dohey. "He's a real entrepreneur. He's a dance teacher, he's a restauranteur; he's someone really engaged with the whole community."



Professor Charles Danielle (left, seated), who also liked to dress up in costumes (right) in the 1800s. (MUN Archives / MUN Special Collections) Post image on Pinterest: Professor Charles Danielle (left, seated), who also liked to dress up in costumes (right) in the 1800s. (MUN Archives / MUN Special Collections)

Professor Charles Danielle (left, seated), who also liked to dress up in costumes (right) in the 1800s. (MUN Archives / MUN Special Collections)

Dohey says the Royal Lake Pavillion was a beautiful building, built on farmland on the outskirts of St. John’s, that was quite popular.



"This was elaborately dressed with all kinds of oriental design and drapes and [was] really quite elegant,” he said. “And that's where you would want to go if you were of any means in St. John's."

Danielle was renting the land from farmer Joseph Ross but Hilda Chalk Murray — an author who has written about farmland in Newfoundland and Labrador — said the two didn’t get along.

“I don't think people knew quite what to make of him."

“He wanted everything elegant and just so. If you're working with cows all day out on the field, that's rather foreign,” she said.

Murray said the farmer wanted to increase Danielle’s rent.

"Ross said that he was getting rent of $12 a year ... and he said that wasn't enough to keep two goats alive!" she said.

Women making hay on Ross's farm in 1911. (The Rooms) Post image on Pinterest: Women making hay on Ross's farm in 1911. (The Rooms)

Women making hay on Ross's farm in 1911. (The Rooms)

Dohey said Danielle was not too pleased with the news, and so he took down the roadhouse, board by board, and moved it to Paradise.

"He carted it by horse and cart to the railway station, and took I think it was two car loads by train, took it out to what was called then Irving Station, which is now in Paradise. And built his Royal Octagon [Castle] ... on the side of the lake, which now takes the name Octagon Pond," Murray said.

The Octagon Castle, named for its shape, was another substantial building, and everyone wanted to go there.

The Octagon Palace on Octagon Pond in Paradise in 1896. (The Rooms) Post image on Pinterest: The Octagon Palace on Octagon Pond in Paradise in 1896. (The Rooms)

The Octagon Palace on Octagon Pond in Paradise in 1896. (The Rooms)

"If you were going to go for a fine dinner or for accommodations, [back] in the day, they used to refer to it as an 'excursion.' So you would go out to an excursion around the bay; you would go to [Paradise]," said Dohey.

Danielle was always thinking outside the box — or about the box, in this case. He designed his own casket, with a glass top, that he put on display in a room at the Octagon Castle.

"He was always pretty keen on doing something that might be unique, to bring the crowd," said Dohey.

"The idea was: 'That'll get the conversation going in St. John's. The crowd will want to come out and see this.'"

Charles Danielle's coffin with a glass top, on display inside his Octagon Castle in the 1890s. (MUN Archives) Post image on Pinterest: Charles Danielle's coffin with a glass top, on display inside his Octagon Castle in the 1890s. (MUN Archives)

Charles Danielle's coffin with a glass top, on display inside his Octagon Castle in the 1890s. (MUN Archives)

Danielle passed away in 1902, and he was as extravagant in death as he was in life.

The professor was specific in his instructions for his funeral. His casket was put on a train, and brought into St. John's, where about 30,000 people — most of the city’s residents — lined the streets to catch one last glimpse of him during the procession.

"They saw the passing of a significant person ... He did influence the culture and the heritage of the place."

Residents of St. John's wait for Charles Danielle's coffin to arrive by train in the west end of town in 1902. (MUN Archives) Post image on Pinterest: Residents of St. John's wait for Charles Danielle's coffin to arrive by train in the west end of town in 1902. (MUN Archives)

Residents of St. John's wait for Charles Danielle's coffin to arrive by train in the west end of town in 1902. (MUN Archives)

His final resting place is across the lake from his first hotel, in the Anglican Cemetery on Forest Road, where his headstone still stands today.