The lighttower at Cap-des-Rosiers

Cap-des-Rosiers lighthouse is an excellent example of the so called imperial lighthouses in stone. It consists in a tall tapered circular tower capped by a prominent light with a large dome-covered metal lantern fixed on a circular observation platform with a balustrade. The height of the tower from the ground to the lantern is 95 feet. It is the highest lighthouse in Canada, 112 feet from the base to the summit of the fan in the dome. Its foundations, at fifty feet from the cliff, are dug 8 feet in the ground. The massive walls of masonry without ornamentation are 7 feet 3 inches thick at the base, but only 3 feet at the summit. The tower diameter is 25 feet 4 inches at ground level but only 17 feet at the platform of the lantern. The original facing of the stone walls was made of fire brick; this facing had several repairs before being redone in brick in 1954, then in marble in 1984. The tower counts nine (9) floors from the basement to the room of fire, just under the lantern. Four small window openings are situated at regular intervals one above the other. The simple interior design consists in a spiral staircase of 122 steps with a tubular handrail up to the summit of the tower. The outside ornamentation is minimal with its small metallic crossbars that support the gallery of the lantern. The original optical apparatus is still in use.

Initially, the same architectural complex included the lighttower and the keeper's house. The latter was demolished in 1956 and rebuilt  nearby as a house which in turn was razed to the ground in 1981.