Description of Historic Place

Lorenzo Spencer House is a two storey wood frame building located at 20 Dominion Street in Truro, NS. The house, which has been adapted for commercial reuse, can be identified by its elaborate Victorian decoration and the Palladian window in the front gable. Both the house and surrounding grounds are included in the heritage designation.

Heritage Value

Historical Value

This house is valued for its association with Lorenzo E. Spencer, one of three brothers who founded Spencer Bros. and Turner, Ltd., a sash, door and woodworking factory that was in a large wooden building originally located near this site. The factory was later moved to a location in the east end of Truro, closer to the railway line, where it operated until the mid-twentieth century. The prefabricated decorative elements that the factory produced are well-represented on the exterior of this building and many others in Truro.

Architectural Value

Architecturally, Lorenzo Spencer House is an example of the many influences that contributed to the design of most houses in this period. This house combines the simple proportions of the Greek Revival style with the massing, textures and decoration from the later Queen Anne and Stick styles. It illustrates how an earlier style was often absorbed into later styles, rather than being entirely supplanted by them.

Source: Planning Department, Town of Truro, file 10MNS0007

Character-Defining Elements

External elements that define the building’s heritage character include:
- all Late Victorian building elements, including: basic form and massing; textured shingling, stick brackets, rosettes and fascia detailing.
- all window and door elements, including: Palladian window in the front pediment; narrow sashed windows.
- all building materials, including: wood clapboard cladding and trim painted in a contrasting colour; asphalt-shingled roof.

Elements that define the site’s heritage charater include:
- placement of the house relative to the street.