Description of Historic Place

Located within the Heritage Conservation District of Old Town Lunenburg, NS, Geldert House is situated on the corner of York and Kempt Streets. It is a late nineteenth century, two-storey wooden home with a mansard roof. It is similar to its neighbours in style, and adds continuity to the streetscape. There is yard space on all sides between the house and the street line. Under the Heritage By-Law the building and land are municipally designated.

Heritage Value

Geldert House has heritage value due to its association with local sea captains, mariners, and as an example of the Second Empire architectural style. This property was home to Captain Freeman Geldert, for whom the house was built between 1888-1890. In 1893 it was sold to Captain Christian Iverson, who later became the manager of the Robin, Jones, and Whitman Company, a Lunenburg fish dealer. William Tanner, also a mariner, lived here as well and the property was exchanged several times between Tanner and Iverson between the 1920s and 1940s. With a mansard roof, front-facing bays, and a substantially original façade, Geldert House is a good example of Lunenburg architecture of its era.

Source: Notice of Recommendation to Register as a Town Heritage Property, Heritage Designation File 66400-40-19, Town of Lunenburg

Character-Defining Elements

Character-defining elements of Geldert House relate to its architecture and include:

- elements derived from the Second Empire style, such as the mansard roof, which also extends to the ell on the side of the house, small gabled dormers in the lower roof slopes, the common roof over the front façade bays, bracketed at the eaves;
- elements that reflect the continuity of the house with the surrounding streetscape, such as the clapboard cladding, similarity in size and style to neighbouring homes, and minimal green space surrounding the house.