Description of Historic Place

The Philippe Bourque House is a one-storey vernacular residence, typical of the Maritimes in the mid-19th century. It is located on Marguerite Street, at the intersection of Fox Creek Road and Amirault Street, in Dieppe.

Heritage Value

The Philippe Bourque House, in the southern sector of Dieppe, is one of the very few residences conserved by the city from among those built by its early entrepreneurs. In Dieppe, at that time, Acadian entrepreneurs made up only a tiny segment of the population. As a result, just a few of their homes, including Philippe Bourque’s, have been conserved. The home of this sawmill entrepreneur, who was the son of the first tanner and nephew of one of the first merchants, is therefore of special historical interest.

Philippe Bourque built the house on an acre of land promised by his grand-father, Raphaël Bourque, where Fox Creek Road meets the boundary trail (Marguerite Street) around 1853, shortly before his marriage. To supply wood for the sawmill that he and his father established, Philippe started buying up woodlots in the 1860’s. In 1870, he purchased the LeBlanc-Pinou mill, which was the oldest and largest mill and located farther up Fox Creek. Owing in part to domestic problems, Philippe had trouble running this business, which was eventually seized by his creditors. Elderly and tired, Philippe sold his house to his neighbour, Théophile LeBlanc, in 1896. After Théophile’s death in 1917, his children sold the property to brick-maker Arthur LeBlanc, whose descendants still live there today.

Source: City of Dieppe, Historic Places File (2), D4

Character-Defining Elements

The character-defining elements that describe the Philippe Bourque House include:
- location of the house facing the angle formed by the intersection of Marguerite Street, Fox Creek Road and Amirault Street;
- main building (original house) of traditional size and proportions;
- three extensions added at the turn of the century and circa 1920 by the families that had bought the house: the first, with a gable, on the front façade; the second, on the left side; and the third, on the back.