Description of Historic Place

5522 North Street is a two-storey wood structure in the Victorian Plain style. It is located in the North End of Halifax, Nova Scotia, near the busy intersection of North and Gottingen Streets. The house is situated in the block between Creighton and Gottingen Streets; most of the homes in this area have similar architectural features and there are several other heritage properties. The municipal designation extends to the building and the land it occupies.

Heritage Value

5522 North Street is valued for its association with Halifax architect Henry Frederick Busch and George Edmund Ritchie, a prominent businessperson and former mayor of Halifax. It is also valued for its Victorian Plain architecture.

Henry Frederick Busch was the first owner of this house, from 1891-1900. The property was part of a large parcel of land he owned on the corner of Gottingen and North streets. A celebrated Halifax architect, Busch designed numerous public buildings throughout Halifax, including Victoria Hall on Gottingen Street (1860), St. Andrews Church on Tobin Street (1871), the Halifax Academy on Brunswick and Sackville Streets (1878), Victoria General Hospital (1883), and the bandstand in the Halifax Public Gardens (1887). He also designed several important buildings across Nova Scotia, including the Normal School at Truro (1879), St. Matthew’s Evangelical Lutheran Church in Rose Bay (1897), and the Lunenburg Town Hall (1891-1893).

George Edmund Ritchie lived in 5522 North Street from 1909-1935. He was a well-known Halifax businessman, working as the Nova Scotia representative for packaged-goods company Standard Brands for more than forty-three years. He also contributed to civic life in Halifax, serving as an alderman from 1919-1922 and as mayor from 1931-1932.

Architecturally, the house displays a mix of Victorian Plain and Classic Revival features. Its Victorian Plain details include its simple box-form shape, low-pitched roof and minimal decoration. Its Classic Revival features include its pedimented front entryway with decorative mouldings, cornice and dentils. This architectural style is reflected in many neighbouring houses on this section of North Street.

Source: HRM Community Development Department, Heritage Property Program, 5522 North Street

Character-Defining Elements

The character-defining elements of 5522 North Street include:

- two-storey wooden structure with low-sloped roof;
- proximity to street with no setback from front property line;
- asymmetrical three-bay façade framed by a bracketed and dentilled cornice at the roofline, plain cornerboards and baseboard, and a plain pilaster defining the entrance bay;
- clapboard cladding with cornerboards;
- brick foundation;
- raised first floor with broad wooden steps up from street to entrance;
- pedimented front entrance with panelled door, transom windows and sidelights framed by chamfered pilasters, moulded mullions and panels, and a dentilled cornice;
- simple wooden window surrounds with square cap designs on first-storey windows.