Description of Historic Place

518 St. George Street, Annapolis Royal, Nova Scotia, is one and a half storey structure built circa 1850 in the Classical Revival style. It is a wood frame, rectangular structure with a gable roof and is clad in wood shingles. The house is set slightly back from St George Street aligned with the row of adjacent buildings to the southeast. The municipal designation includes both the house and the property.

Heritage Value

Historic Value:

518 St George Street, Annapolis Royal, Nova Scotia, as recognized by its municipal designation, is valued for its contribution to the architectural landscape of the town. During the French period before 1710, this lot was part of the property of the extended Belliveau family. The Belliveau families lived in a cluster of houses well away from the main road, rue Dauphin (St George Street). The lot appears to be part of the 12 acre property purchased by Francis and Thomas LeCain from the estate of Magdalen Winniett in 1780. By the early nineteenth century it was owned by some of the Ritchies, a family of Scottish origin that had settled in Annapolis Royal in the 1770s.

The house itself may date from the 1850s when the property was owned by Wilkinson Ritchie, a mechanic. It was certainly standing in 1877 when renovations reported in the local newspaper included raising the foundation one and one half feet and lengthening the post (wall height) one foot. A new roof and two large Gothic peak windows were added at this time. From 1882 until 1930 the house was owned by jeweller Robert Leslie Hardwick and his sister Anna Maria Gesner. From 1940 until 1974 it was the home of commercial traveller Arthur McKenzie and his wife Ruth.

Architectural Value:

The house at 518 St George Street is primarily in its original form and has been well maintained. The house is valued for its contribution to the heritage landscape along upper St George Street. As with many Classical Revival houses in Nova Scotia, the decoration usually expected in this style has been somewhat muted. The one and a half storey rectangular wooden structure sits on a full cut stone and rubble foundation. At the time of designation, the house was covered with synthetic siding but this has been replaced with wooden clapboard. The ends of the building feature Doric pilasters. The high gable roof has a shed dormer on the front and a small projecting single storey intersecting shed dormer on the rear. The rear dormer does not appear to be original. There are two brick chimneys; one on the exterior walls to the left, the other off centered to the right on the roof peak. The chimney to the left is not original. The windows are double hung with plain wooden trim and entablatures. There are two sets of paired windows on the second floor at the front and two trapezoidal shaped windows on either side of the exterior chimney at the peak of the roof. The front door is centrally located in a porch with side lights. The porch has a bell cast roof with half round fanlight glass window over the exterior door. The back door is in a closed porch.

Source

Town of Annapolis Royal Heritage Property Files, Annapolis Heritage Society, 136 St George Street, Annapolis Royal.

Character-Defining Elements

The character-defining elements of 518 St George Street include:

-intact Classical Revival Style;
-cut stone and rubble foundation;
-symmetrical front façade;
-steep gable roof with continuous shed dormer;
-wooden shingles with corner boards and water table;
-wooden clapboard siding;
-Doric pilasters;
-two trapezoidal shaped windows on either side of the exterior chimney at the peak of the roof;
-wooden double hung sash windows, plain trim with entablatures;
-front door located in a glassed in porch with bell cast roof and a fanlight window.