Description of Historic Place

Princess Places Victorian Townhouses consist of eight two-storey brick houses. They are located on a cul-de-sac that fits into the triangular shaped block across from the North Commons on Cunard Street in the North End of Halifax, Nova Scotia. The townhouses are an excellent example of Victorian era homes and are sheltered from the traffic of nearby major arteries, providing residents with a compact and relaxed atmosphere. The heritage designation applies to the townhouses and the land they occupy.

Heritage Value

Princess Place Victorian Townhouses are valued for their age, relationship to the area, and streetscape design.

Since the early history of Halifax the land where the townhouses now stand has been in use, first as farmland and later part of the estate of successful merchant John Duffus. In 1867 a portion of the Duffus estate (in the shape of a triangle with its long side on Cunard Street at the northernmost side of the Halifax Commons) was set aside for development. Andrew Mooney, a well known Halifax mason who built many brick buildings in the city’s North End, built the original fourteen units. At the time, these new homes were in harmony with the adjacent brick dwellings on Cunard Street and with the wooden buildings around the Commons. Today, only eight units remain on the east side of the street and at the end of the cul-de-sac. The concept of a cul-de-sac development off a principal thoroughfare was unique in the city at the time.

Architecturally, Princess Place Victorian Townhouses are valued as good examples of the Victorian Plain style expected flat roofs with bracketed eaves and interesting ornamentation on the cornice. Another defining feature of Late Victorian Plain style is noticed by the simple windows that are hooded and surrounded by wood moulding. The houses were all built to the same design and provided an elegant solution to the requirements of single families of moderate means. This streetscape displays a high degree of cohesiveness in terms of its architecture scale and rhythm, as well as the building materials used in its construction. The center cul-de-sac unit is the exception to the group. Its windows have brick sills. Today the original brick façades have been covered with stucco; however the brick is still seen at the ends and rear of some houses.

Source: HRM Heritage Property File: Princess Place Streetscape, found at HRM Planning and Development Services, Heritage Property Program, 6960 Mumford Road, Halifax, Nova Scotia.

Character-Defining Elements

The character-defining elements of Princess Place Victorian Townhouses relate to the Late Victorian Plain style and include:

- flat-roofs;
- plain flat brick façades;
- central chimneys at ends and middle of each block;
- bracketed eaves;
- cornice ornamentation;
- glazed wood panelled doors;
- transom, pilasters, and entablature;
- hooded first storey windows with wood moulding;
- brick sills of center cul-de-sac unit;
- wooden railings.