Description of Historic Place

The John Johnson House is a large white clapboard house in the Queen Anne style. It is located on Main Street near the intersection with Queens Road, an historic section of Sackville called Captain’s Corner.

Heritage Value

John Johnson House is designated Local Historic Place for its architecture and for its association with the original owner.

John Johnson House is recognized for its architecture. Built in 1899, it is a large white clapboard Queen Anne house, which incorporates frequent bay windows and towers that dominate the front façade. It is prime local example of the late Victorian period of architecture.

John Johnson House is also recognized for the original owner. The house was built for lumber baron John Johnson, a self made man. He participated in the boom in Sackville that led to incorporation in 1903. John Johnson and his three sons, Oren, Seward and Josiah were directly involved in lumbering. His main operations were at Johnson’s Mills, between Sackville and Dorchester Cape. It was such a large operation that permanent buildings were built on the shore: a building to house the portable mill, the bunkhouse, where more than twenty men wintered, and barns that housed the many horses needed to haul the finished product to Grand Anse. John Johnson acquired land in Sackville in 1897, part of the property of Captain Thomas Egan. At the peak of this prosperous period in the lumbering industry, John Johnson moved from Westcock to Sackville, building this large house for his family of five children and entering heartily into the business life of the community. By 1908, he had served six years in the Westmorland County Council and on the Town Council.

Source: Town of Sackville, Historic Places File Cabinet, John Johnson House File

Character-Defining Elements

The character-defining elements that describe John Johnson House include:
- asymmetrical 2 ½ storey massing;
- steeply pitched gable roof;
- symmetrical placement of two storey bays on front façade that evolve into towers;
- two storey bays on side façades being asymmetrical;
- two story bays on south side blending into a sun porch on the front and an upstairs balcony at the rear;
- principle entrance on front façade with a porch, joining the two bays;
- clapboard siding ;
- decorative shingle patterns used over the bay windows, at peak of house, and on gable ends;
- variety of windows types with double hung windows in the bays and much smaller multi-pane windows on the gable ends;
- sheltered veranda and entrance on the driveway side on the house.