Description of Historic Place

Erected in 1785, Gladstone Smith House is a small, 2 1/2 storey saltbox type house situated on a parcel of land on Queen Street, in the Town of St. Andrews.

Heritage Value

Gladstone Smith House is designated a Provincial Historic Site for its architecture and its association with Joseph Crookshank.

Gladstone Smith House is one of the oldest buildings in St. Andrews and serves as an excellent example of the “saltbox” form of structure characteristic of period houses in Connecticut, Massachusetts, and Long Island, but rare in this locality. The first group of Loyalist settlers arrived with all their possessions in St. Andrews in October 1783, from Castine, Maine. Many even disassembled the frame houses they had built, transported them by ship, and erected them in St. Andrews. It is possible that the Gladstone Smith house was one of these houses moved from Castine and erected in St. Andrews in 1785 by Joseph Crookshank. Several architectural historians speculate that the house might actually have been originally built as early as the 1760’s in Maine.

The present property was granted to Joseph Crookshank in 1784. He was a ship’s carpenter and one of the original land grantees of the town. After Crookshank, several owners occupied the house, including Gladstone Smith in 1938. It has been a New Brunswick Historic Site (Protected) since 1978.

Source: Department of Wellness, Culture and Sport, Heritage Branch, Site File # 18.

Character-Defining Elements

The character-defining elements that describe the exterior of the Gladstone Smith House include:
- 2 1/2 storey house with 3 bay facade, front sloping pitched roof and shed rear extension in saltbox form;
- exterior cladding on the house, including trim corner boards, horizontal painted wood clapboards on the front facade, while the side and rear façades clad with unpainted wood shingles;
- lack of soffit and roof overhang, typical of older Massachusetts houses;
- original 9 over 6, 6 over 6 and 6 over 3 double-hung fenestration throughout the house;
- 3 over 2 vertical double-hung sidelights;
- exterior main entry with its single door, sidelights, transom fanlight enclosed by a carved entablature, and delicate casing trim;
- central chimney;
- un-coursed, rubble stone foundation walls;
- structure of hand-hewn beams and logs.

The character-defining elements that describe the interior of the Gladstone Smith House include:
- floor structure of the main level comprised of hand cut mortise-jointed logs with bark intact;
- spatial arrangement of the original interior plan reflective of the saltbox Colonial Revival style;
- elaborate main hallway staircase;
- unadorned secondary winding staircase;
- exposed softwood flooring boards with hand-forged iron nails;
- brick hearth with simple, yet elegant painted wood fireplace mantle and side warming cabinets with second floor bedroom directly above possessing an identical mantle;
- original painted wood trim and baseboards throughout the house;
- decorated plaster ceiling medallion;
- original iron door hinges and latches on interior basement door.