Description of Historic Place

The Cross-Therrio House is a single detached, one-and-one-half-storey building in the Late-Victorian Plain style situated on a residential lot in Annapolis Royal, Nova Scotia. The historic place is located on the corner of Drury Lane and St. Anthony Street in a mixed-use area. The Cross-Therrio House lot is small and grass-covered with minimal landscaping and would be on interest for future archaeological study. Both the house and property are included in the municipal heritage designation.

Heritage Value

The property at 58 Drury Lane, also known as the Cross-Therrio House, is valued, as recognized by its municipal heritage designation, for its contribution to the architectural landscape of the town and for its association with local historic personalities and events.

Historic Value

The property that the Cross-Therrio presently sits on was originally part of a four-acre property purchased by the French government in 1704 from Captain Claude-Sebastien Villieu for the use of a parish church. Following the British conquest of Nova Scotia, the former Villieu property was granted to the Anglican Church as glebe lands and was subsequently subdivided and leased. In 1868 the Anglican Church sold the area between Drury Lane and Church Street to the Windsor & Annapolis Railway and over the next few years divested itself of the remaining glebe lands in the Lower Town. In 1874, butcher James McClafferty purchased glebe lot no. 9 and moved the Cross House, which had previously stood on the west side of Drury Lane, onto it. The house was built circa 1800 by Loyalist William Cross, who had been a stationer and bookbinder in Boston prior his departure to Nova Scotia during the American Revolution. He had been appointed stationer to the Royal Artillery Department in 1790. Cross married Ann, daughter of Andrew Ritchie, and lived in the house with their three daughters. In 1922 the property was purchased by Frank Therrio, a railway section foreman, and has remained in the family since that time. This section of Annapolis Royal was also the home of numerous other families associated with the operation of the railway.

Architectural Value

The Cross-Therrio House is an excellent example of the Neo-Classical style as interpreted in Annapolis Royal. There are very few Neo-Classical buildings of this size that have survived in Annapolis Royal. The building is in keeping with other houses of this style with its largely symmetrical exterior appearance. As this was primarily a working class property, the exterior of the house features very little decoration. Physically, the house is one-and-one-half-storeys tall with a medium gable roof. The main entrance is located on the gable facade in a one-storey vestibule. This entrance is located off centre on the gable end of the building and is somewhat out of keeping with the usual symmetry expected in the Neo-Classical style. Sidelights are used to highlight the main entrance. A modern enclosed breezeway has been added to the back of the house and has been used to join the house to a garage.

Source: Heritage Properties File, Annapolis Heritage Society, 136 St George Street, Annapolis Royal, Nova Scotia.

Character-Defining Elements

Character-defining elements of the Cross-Therrio House relate to its Neo-Classical style and include:

- symmetrical exterior appearance;
- original one-and-one-half-storey size and single detached massing;
- entrance located off centre on the gable end of the building;
- main door located in an one-storey vestibule;
- sidelights located beside main entry door;
- vestibule surmounted by an entablature;
- one-storey enclosed verandah;
- boxed cornice and plain frieze with no return;
- two-over-one wooden sash windows.