Description of Historic Place

West-Vaux House is a two-and-a-half storey wood and stucco Gothic Revival style townhouse located on Brunswick Street in Halifax, Nova Scotia. The house is located at the end of Uniacke Street where it meets Brunswick Street, in a predominately nineteenth century residential neighbourhood. The heritage designation applies to the building and the surrounding land it occupies.

Heritage Value

West-Vaux House is valued for its association with its original occupants. The house was built for Augustus W. West and Cuthbert C. Vaux in 1863. The West and Vaux families were related by marriage which led them to build this double house (townhouse) together. West was a member of one of the most profitable West Indies trading firms in the city. Vaux was also a merchant who became a real estate agent, and was the Halifax School Board Secretary in the 1870s. Like many of the houses on Brunswick Street, this house represents an era of prosperity of the mercantile class.

Architecturally, West-Vaux House is valued as an example of a double house (townhouse) in the Gothic Revival style. The house is symmetrically balanced with the left side perfectly matching the right side. This double style two-and-a-half storey structure, with a wood shingle clad façade and stucco side elevations, commands attention and compliments its surrounding houses. The long narrow hooded windows and gables on the front and back elevations are representative of the Gothic style of architecture and accentuate the vertical appearance of the house. The front elevation is divided into three sections by the gabled roofline and engaged pilasters, which create the illusion that the end sections are projections. On the ground floor façade there are two projecting window bays on either side of the central projecting door. It complements the surrounding streetscape of mainly nineteenth century residential buildings.

Source: HRM Heritage Property File: 2427 - 2429 Brunswick Street ,West-Vaux House, found at HRM Planning and Development Services, Heritage Property Program, 6960 Mumford Road, Halifax, Nova Scotia.

Character-Defining Elements

The character-defining elements of West Vaux House relate to its Gothic Revival style and include:

- double style two-and-a-half storey structure;
- wood shingle cladding front façade;
- stucco side elevations;
- symmetrically balanced front elevation;
- long narrow windows and gables on the front and back elevations;
- front elevation divided into three sections by gabled roofline and pilasters;
- two projecting window bays that flank the central projecting door bay on ground floor of front elevation;
- small hooded dormer windows;
- linear windows.