Description of Historic Place

371 Granville Street East is a one-and-a-half-storey wooden home set back from the road at the east end of Granville Street, which is the old highway that runs east-west through the Town of Bridgetown, Nova Scotia. The property and the building are included in the designation.

Heritage Value

The property at 371 Granville Street East is valued as one of the grander examples of the vernacular tradition in Bridgetown.

William Handley Chipman, a farmer, built this house in 1835 on one of the original farm-grant lots at the east end of town. As an example of the vernacular tradition in Bridgetown, it marks the earliest chapter in the town's built heritage.

From the twin chimneys down to the front steps, the front elevation of this home conveys a stately appearance. The five-bay symmetrical façade has a distinctive doorway, covered with a pedimented portico and framed with sidelights and a transom window. The medium-pitched end-gable roof adds grandeur to an otherwise simple design, with its three pedimented dormers, originally housing six-over-six windows.

The return eaves and pilasters add decorative relief and break up the massing of this simply configured home that gains in stature by being set well back from the road on a large town block. Its placement and its long east-west axis distinguish it from many neighbouring homes that are set closer to the street and are generally taller and of narrower or more square proportions.

Source: Heritage Property file no. 3, Town of Bridgetown, NS

Character-Defining Elements

The character-defining elements of 371 Granville Street East include:

- medium-pitched end-gable roof with return eaves;
- size and massing;
- wood framed and cladding;
- three pedimented dormers;
- five-bay symmetrical façade with pedimented portico;
- sidelights and transom at the central doorway;
- two one-quarter insert chimneys;
- location of the property on one of the original farm-grant lots.