Description of Historic Place

The Thomas V. B. Bingay house is a two storey Shingle style house built in 1903 for local banker, Thomas V. B. Bingay. It is located in Yarmouth, Nova Scotia near the downtown area and the waterfront. Municipal heritage designation applies to the house and its residential lot.

Heritage Value

The Thomas V. B. Bingay house is valued for its historical associations with Thomas Bingay, the original owner, and with the Bank of Montreal, which owned it for many years. It is also valued as being an excellent example of the Shingle style of architecture, which is rare in the Yarmouth area.

Thomas V. B. Bingay was an influential banker in Yarmouth for many years. He had been the cashier for the Exchange Bank of Yarmouth at the time it was bought by the Bank of Montreal in 1903, and was subsequently appointed first manager of the new Bank of Montreal branch. Within a month of his appointment as manager, construction of his new house was begun, and the family moved into the completed house about six months later. Ten days after moving in, Thomas Bingay sold the property to the Bank of Montreal, though he resided there until 1921 when he retired.

The takeover of the Exchange Bank of Yarmouth by the Bank of Montreal in 1903 was the first such instance in Yarmouth of a national bank taking over a small local one. This policy of national banks absorbing smaller banks continued into well into the 20th century. The Bank of Montreal retained ownership of this property as housing for its local branch managers until 1975.

The Shingle style is typified by its all-over shingle cladding, its wide, inviting veranda and its roof-lines of intersecting cross gables as seen in the T.V. B. Bingay house.

Source: Registered Heritage Property files, Town of Yarmouth, NS.

Character-Defining Elements

The character-defining elements of the Thomas V. B. Bingay house include:

- location close to the central business district of the town and the waterfront;
- proximity to other wood frame homes of similar scale;
- setback from the street on a spacious lot;
- single family dwelling.

The character-defining elements of the Thomas V. B. Bingay house relate to its Shingle style and include:

- wood frame construction;
- asymmetrical massing;
- off-centre entrance in an asymmetrical facade;
- medium pitched gable roof ;
- bell cast belt course;
- shingle walls without interruption at corners;
- wraparound veranda with a corner turret, paired columns and fieldstone foundation;
- double hung sash windows;
- diamond pattern glazing in top sashes of windows in upper storeys;
- dormer windows with pedimented gables;
- two storey, five sided bay window on facade.