Description of Historic Place

The Gilbert Gaudet Residence is a small one-and-a-half-storey house, with rectangular massing and a steeply-pitched gable roof. It is situated on Dover Road in Dieppe.

Heritage Value

The heritage value of the Gilbert Gaudet house lies in the representation of an early 20th century rural labourer’s home and in the abandonment of the villages when electricity came to rural areas.

The house, modest in size, is typical of a small rural home of the early 20th century. The original section is a simple one-and-a-half-storey rectangle covered by a steeply pitched gable roof. As the ground floor was used for the kitchen and living room, the upper floor was reserved for three bedrooms. The framework of the original structure was cut with a circular saw and attached with gauge wire nails, which point to relatively recent construction. The house would have been built by Gilbert Gaudet and Delina LeBlanc, daughter of Cyprien LeBlanc, when they were first married, around 1920. They had only one child, Ida, who went on to marry Albert Gautreau. Gilbert Gaudet was a carpenter and operated a small subsistence farm near the house. The family had a small barn, kept some livestock and grew strawberries and raspberries.

Another heritage value of this house lies in its association with an abandoned village. The Gaudet family kept up its ties with "Su’ Vanentin", the abandoned village near Folly Lake where they owned cultivated fields (buckwheat, oats, strawberries, etc.) and a large barn. This hamlet of a few houses, which at one time bore the name of Neil’s Folly, would have been abandoned in the early 20th century, probably around 1930, when electrical power was installed on the main country roads.

Neil’s Folly was a dance club situated near Folly Lake, with canoeing facilities. It was operated by Neil McKay of Moncton until about 1950.

Source: City of Dieppe, Historic Places File (2), F4-2

Character-Defining Elements

The character-defining elements that describe the Gilbert Gaudet house include:
- one-and-a-half-storey rectangular massing;
- original openings of the doors and windows;
- steeply pitched gable roof.