Description of Historic Place

The MacPhee house is a one-and-a-half storey, vernacular style house located at 1550 Highway #7, North Lochaber, Antigonish County, Nova Scotia. The setting is pastoral, along a hillside near the Lochaber Lake, Antigonish County, Nova Scotia. The house and surrounding property are included in the municipal designation.

Heritage Value

The MacPhee House is valued for its service as the community post office in the post-World War I period. It was a focal point of the community for people wishing to hear the latest news or to simply pick up the mail. Archie MacPhee, resident of the home and returning war veteran served as Post Master, while continuing to maintain the family farm.

The MacPhee House is typical of many houses in rural Antigonish County. It served as the family home of the MacPhee family for close to 150 years. Farming provided a livelihood for some members of the family, while others sought opportunity and employment away in Boston and other areas of Nova Scotia. All maintained a life-long attachment to the home and community of their birth.

The MacPhee House is valued for its longevity, being one of the few houses of its age remaining in Antigonish County. It is valued as well for being a largely unaltered one-and-a-half storey vernacular house. It features a medium pitch gable roof, symmetrical three-bay façade, two off-centre chimneys and a stone foundation. The entranceway is enhanced by a wide central door, sidelights, and a fanlight transom. Above the six-over-six windows and the doorway are decorative entablatures.

Source: Registered heritage property files, no. 337, Municipality of Antigonish County.

Character-Defining Elements

Character-defining elements of the MacPhee House include:

- wooden one-and-a-half storey construction;
- stone foundation;
- medium pitch gable roof
- wide central door with columns and entablature;
- fanlight transom;
- six-over-six windows with entablatures;
- symmetrical three-bay façade;
- two separated chimneys.