Livyers' Lot Heritage Site is a great place to explore traditional living in outport Newfoundland. Sample traditional food at the Tea Rose Cafe, visit the Paddle House museum, take part in a craft demonstration or make a purchase at the Economusee® boutique. Take out a picnic lunch and visit some of our scenic outports for a true Newfoundland experience.

The Livyers’ Lot Economusée® was established to provide a venue so local craftspeople would have a place to make and sell their crafts. The name comes from a set of Newfoundland words which classified fishermen as either “livyers”—those who lived in the places where they fished and “stationers” –those who migrated with the fishery. So the Livyers’ Lot shows the lot in life of the fishermen who lived in the Placentia West area. Its primary purpose is to preserve the skills and traditions by which they made a living here. Among these are the craft skills by which people used and reused what little they had available to produce warmth and beauty for themselves and their homes.

The key products at the Economusée® are textile crafts produced using traditional methods such as hand knitting, crocheting, rug hooking and quilting. Wherever possible, traditional materials are used including recycled fabrics and fibres. Space is made available so that craftspeople can meet to quilt, knit, crochet or make a mat. There are workshops and daily craft demonstrations.

Visit the Paddle House museum and you will find yourself placed in the setting from which these crafts originally emerged. This century old house showcases the home of a traditional fishing family prior to Confederation with Canada. It was once home to the Paddle family of Port Elizabeth, a resettled community in Placentia Bay. Round out the experience with a meal at the Tea Rose, where the food service goal is to provide you with home cooked food in a setting intended to make you feel you are a guest in a Placentia West home.