Description of Historic Place

263 Granville Street West is a two-storey wooden home set close to the road at the west end of the main street running east-west through the town of Bridgetown, Nova Scotia. The property and the building are included in the municipal designation.

Heritage Value

The property at 263 Granville Street West is valued for its New England Colonial architecture and its historical role as one of the early commercial buildings in Bridgetown.

Built in 1844, this home was first owned by the Rev. James Robertson, an Anglican minister who also operated the property as a commercial store. The building is located at the western tip of the town's commercial district, which forms a "T" extending up the main north-south thoroughfare, Queen Street, and extending for a block or two on either side of the intersection with Granville Street, running east-west at the top of the town.

The rectangular form, symmetrical façade and two-storey elevation of this house are typical of the New England Colonial style. In these respects, this house is in keeping with its position in a row of New England Colonial style homes on this block.

The house has two distinguishing elements. The first is the pedimented portico, supported by Classical columns, whose design is common to the related periods of Georgian and Federal architecture. The second is the two-storey bay window with a hipped roof, which is a departure from the simple lines of the New England Colonial style. This modification may reflect the date of construction in the 1840s, when this period of architecture was drawing to a close. As such, the bay window may have been an early manifestation of the Gothic Revival style that followed soon after.

Source: Heritage Property file no. 5, Town of Bridgetown, NS

Character-Defining Elements

The character-defining elements of 263 Granville Street include:

- medium-pitched end-gable roof;
- front two-storey bay window with hipped roof and pent roof at roof line;
- off-centre doorway with pedimented portico and classical supports;
- two-storey timber frame construction;
- three-bay façade
- location on the edge of the commercial district on Granville Street near the intersection of Queen Street.