Description of Historic Place

18 Water Street is a one-and-a-half storey wooden home set close to the road on a short street, which runs east-west adjacent to the north bank of the Annapolis River in the Town of Bridgetown, Nova Scotia. The property and the building are included in the designation.

Heritage Value

The property at 18 Water Street is considered the oldest home in Bridgetown and is valued for its age and as an early example of the vernacular tradition in Bridgetown.

The mariner and shipwright Captain John Quirk, from the Isle of Man, built this house as his marital home in 1822 on one of the first riverfront lots - a year after Bridgetown was laid out into building lots.

Water Street once bore witness to a working waterfront, where ships docked at the head of tidal navigation, on the north bank of the Annapolis River. Today, this short street, running east-west and parallel with the river, bears witness to the eclectic architectural styles of one of the oldest residential streets in Bridgetown.

The simple vernacular style of this house is interrupted by the pedimented dormer over an open portico - an element that distinguishes it from other heritage homes in Bridgetown. It is embellished with brackets on the gallery and portico and traces of the Greek Revival style in its pilasters and window hoods.

The orientation of this house is unusual, having a gallery on the western elevation that is in contrast with the plain eastern elevation and different in character from the façade on the street. The side gallery is also in contrast with other galleries on historic homes in Bridgetown, which typically extend across the front of a house or wrap around the front and side.

Source: Heritage Property file no. 8, Town of Bridgetown, NS

Character-Defining Elements

The character-defining elements of 18 Water Street include:

- end-gable roof with return eaves;
- pedimented dormer over an open portico;
- side gallery with spindlework balustrade and supports;
- brackets under the hipped gallery roof and portico;
- Greek Revival style pilasters and window hoods;
- one-and-a-half-storey timber frame construction;
- location on the north bank of the Annapolis River.