Description of Historic Place

Pallen House is a Dutch Colonial style residential building, built around 1840. It is located in downtown Bathurst, on the corner of Main and King streets.

Heritage Value

Pallen House is designated a Local Historic Place for its association with the different persons who lived there or owned it and for its architecture.

William Pallen, a justice of the peace, had previously owned a property on this lot. The house now located there was built around 1840 by Joseph Read, a local merchant and an important figure in the community. He was a justice of the peace and the MLA for Gloucester County, among other things.

Pallen House is also linked with P.J. Burns, the first mayor of Bathurst, who became the owner of the house around 1885. Frank Fournier acquired it in 1925 and transformed it into a rooming house known as the Brunswick Hotel.

Pallen House is also a good example of Dutch Colonial residential architecture from the mid-19th century in Bathurst. This style is evident in such details as the rectangular plan and the gambrel roof of the main portion of the building.

Source: Bathurst Heritage Trust Commission Inc., "Pallen House" site file

Character-Defining Elements

The character-defining elements that describe Pallen House include:
- location on the corner of Main and King streets;
- three-storey rectangular plan;
- symmetry of door and window placement on the main portion of the building;
- flared gambrel roof with returned eaves and wide shed dormers;
- three gable dormers on the main façade.