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Between 1830 and 1890 there was a strong Gothic Revival movement in Nova Scotia. Of the 'styles' of buildings making their progress through time the Gothic Revival with its steeply pitched roofs and porches was well suited to the heavy rain and snowfall of the province. By chance, here was an architecture well suited to the climate. We can easily spot Gothic Revival by its signature, the cross gable placed on the long side with the soffit sloping and continuing up the gable ends. Note that the 'gable' looks quite different from the 'dormer' that we see on the Cape Cod style cottage. The illustrations on the left show the 'evolution' of the Gothic Revival form. Our house starts with the simple shape at the top, a four over four room building with two chimneys and central hall. For elaboration it had a front porch, side bay window and rear extension as in the fifth illustration down. We assume the elaborations are original, not added on later. The 1945 photo on the home page shows a low railing on the front porch roof, a detail we have not seen elsewhere. There are many houses like this in Nova Scotia, some exactly like ours, some more elaborate. Source: Penney, Allen, Houses of Nova Scotia, Formac Publishing and Nova Scotia Museum. Unfortunately, out-or-print. Allen Penny is a registered architect in Nova Scotia, teaches at the Technical University of Nova Scotia, and writes a regular architecture column for the Halifax Chronical-Herald.
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