Upper Church Street: Bishop’s Lodge
This large house was originally owned by John Joseph Camacho, the elder brother of E.O. Camacho. When John Joseph’s widow died in 1971, she willed the property to the Catholic Bishop, who resided there until the early 2000s. The story is that although the house has 100 windows, by law only 99 can be opened at one time.
Many of the properties nearby were also owned by John Joseph, who in 1890 was selected to represent the Portuguese interests in the Legislative Council.
John Joseph Camacho was one of the sons of A.J. Camacho. He took over the estate part of his father’s businesses and by 1902 owned 21 estates. When Crown Colony government was instituted in 1898, he was immediately appointed a nominated Unofficial and member of the Executive Council, a post he held until his death in 1929. He owned many properties in this part of St. John’s. He had no children and left the bulk of his estate to the Catholic Church.
Nunes Hardware
Nunes Hardware began in 1969 further down Long Street and moved to this spot at the corner of Long Street and Cross Street in the early 1970s. Downstairs was the business and upstairs was a residence. The building was erected in the mid- to late-1800s and was owned by John Joseph Camacho. Nunes expanded in the early 1990s along Cross Street, from Long to Church Streets. The Long Street side downstairs is preserved in the original red brick style, wooden upstairs and a double peaked roof behind the original parapet wall, common in its era. The Church Street side is encased in a cut limestone wall with a wooden upstairs and modern single pitched roof. Upstairs on all sides are hung wooden hurricane shutters. Two wells ringed in red bricks and about 15 feet deep exist on the property, one on the Long Street sidewalk alongside the building and one on the eastern side. They are always full of water. Spring water is said to run underground from the Antigua Recreation Grounds area below much of Long Street and into downtown below the street surface.