Description of Historic Place

The Paradise School, built in 1894, is a two-storey wooden building set back from the road at the north side of the highway which runs east-west through Paradise, Nova Scotia. Both the building and the property are included in the municipal heritage designation.

Heritage Value

The Paradise School is valued as an impressive example of the Second Empire style in Paradise, NS.

Ernest and Charles Balcom, brothers, built this structure in 1894. The two-storey wooden building originally accommodated eighty to one hundred and five students, grades Primary through Twelve. The unique building conveys a dramatic presence and exhibits a classical setting, located some distance from the main road, adjacent to its semi-circular driveway. The Paradise School closed in 1979. The Paradise Women’s Institute took over ownership of the building and later the structure was to house a nursery school.

From the concave mansard roof down to the large double hung windows on the main storey and entrance door at the front right corner, the front elevation of this building conveys a stately appearance. Segmented dormers on the second storey each have paired round-headed windows. The tall, narrow French-style main storey windows have flat hoods. An unusual ornamental element is the decorative shingling halfway up the façade. There is a two-storey shed roof addition in the rear. The structure sits on a brick foundation.

The building is a valued testament to the integrity of the builders’ craftsmanship and to the community’s commitment to heritage preservation through the creative practice of adaptive reuse of the property.

Source: Heritage Property File no. OIBNS01207, Municipality of the County of Annapolis, 752 St. George Street, Annapolis Royal, N. S., B0S 1A0

Character-Defining Elements

Character-defining elements of the Paradise School are associated with its Second Empire style and include:

-two-storey construction;
-wood-frame construction;
-concave mansard roof;
-double hung, tall, narrow French style windows with flat hoods;
-decorative shingling halfway up the façade;
-brick foundation;
-building is set back and strategically located in respect to its semi-circular driveway.