One of the great mansions constructed during the building boom of the 1880s, Hopedale is a product of the successful sealing voyages of Capt. Samuel Blandford. Blandford was MHA for Bonavista 1889-93 and then made a member of the Legislative Council on which he served until his death in 1909. During the World War II the house served as a military club and afterwards was a Salvation Army retirement home: Sunset Lodge.

Much altered in the 1960s it was taken over by Pamela and Owen Crossan in 1989. They found a building that had been converted into apartments and covered in stucco. When they were able to start work they made discoveries that were both intriguing and appalling. On the exterior they found that much of the detail had been stripped back or levelled with an axe so that the panefling beneath the bays had all to be restored. The masking of a modem addition by a Victorian-style porch serves to give it new life while preserving the utility of the structure and makes what was once a grimly-utilitarian entrance into something quite striking.

In the sitting room there was no trace of the original Victorian grandeur - only an angelstone fireplace and modem carpet. Using ghost marks on the wall and the pattern from a mantel upstairs a new mantel was created. Once the carpet was lifted its backing had to be peeled free to reveal a beautiful hardwood floor with cherry trim.

The work here was a family effort because it went beyond Pam and Owen to take in Pam's brother Harold Cooper, and her father, Samuel Cooper, of Harper Construction.