Description of Historic Place

Gordon Ross House is a two-storey Italianate style house located at 28 Lansdoon Place on Wimburn Hill in Truro, NS, overlooking the Salmon River valley and the lower town to the north, and Victoria Park to the immediate east of the house. Both the building, which was built about 1872, and the park-like surrounding property are included in the heritage designation.

Heritage Value

Historic Value

Gordon Ross House is valued for its historical associations with the family of John Ross, MLA, and his sons bank manager Gordon H. Ross and barrister James D. Ross. The latter achieved international prominence around the turn of the 20th century through his efforts to promote world peace through a League of English-Speaking Nations, which eventually came into being after World War I as The League of Nations. Ross Street, which leads from Brunswick Street up Wimburn Hill, and Lansdoon Place, both bear names associated with this family.

Architectural Value

Gordon Ross House is valued as a well-preserved example of the estate houses that were built on the side of Wimburn Hill, overlooking Truro, in the late 19th century, most of which have survived to the present day. The design of this house was originally based on the Gothic Revival style but was later updated to the more ornate Italianate style as fashions changed.

Source: Planning Department, Town of Truro, file 10MNS0057

Character-Defining Elements

External elements that define the heritage character of Gordon Ross House include:
- all original or historic building elements, such as: a basic two-storey square-plan Italianate form and massing; two-storey angled bays on the front and a single bay on the side; wide moulded eaves at the roof-wall junction and at the bay mid-points, with wide moulded trim boards beneath; one large and one small chimney, centrally placed;

- all original or historic door and window elements, such as: narrow sashed windows in the main structure, and a picture window in the lower side bay; main entrance placed in the northeast front bay; wide moulded door and window surrounds, with label mouldings; panel moulding on the bays and turned spindlework pilasters on the bay angles.

- all original or historic building materials, such as: wood clapboard cladding;
wooden trim painted a contrasting colour.

- all historic site elements, such as: placement on historic Wimburn Hill overlooking Victoria Park and the Salmon River valley; large terraced front lawn with stone stairways; mature trees; consistency with its neighbours on the south side of Lansdoon Place in terms of placement, scale, massing, style, materials and usage.