Description du lieu patrimonial

The Campbell Heritage House is located at the crossroads of the road leading to Lake Ainslie and the main highway between Port Hood and Inverness on Cape Breton Island, Nova Scotia. It is a two-and-a-half storey modified Gothic Revival style house that was built in the 1860s. The building and property are included in the provincial designation.

Valeur patrimoniale

The Campbell Heritage House is valued for its association with Alexander Campbell and for its striking Gothic Revival style and location in a scenic and largely unchanged rural surroundings.

The Campbell Heritage House was built in the 1860s by Alexander Campbell, a successful merchant. Campbell was born on the Isle of Skye in Scotland and came, as a child, with his parents to settle on the east side of Lake Ainslie, Nova Scotia. As an adult, Campbell lived at Broad Cove Intervale (now known as Strathlorne) where he taught school and established his mercantile business. He built his business on a credit and trade based system, which was common for rural nineteenth century merchants.

In 1867, Campbell was elected to the House of Assembly of Nova Scotia. He went on to become one of the most important political figures in Inverness County for the next thirty years. He retired from politics in 1897. The house remains in the Campbell family.

The Campbell Heritage House is a two-and-a-half storey modified Gothic Revival house, although its interior is Georgian in design. Its most attractive feature is a peaked third floor front dormer, giving the house an appealing and imposing presence. The front door is protected by an entry porch whose peak is the same pitch as the third floor windows of the dormer. Two chimneys are located on either side of the Gothic peak and rise out of the centre of the ridge pole. Two maple trees (one of which is over three hundred years old) reach above the peak of the roof and their height adds to the house‘s impressive presence.

The house is an amalgamation of several sections. The Gothic styled front section dates from the 1860s, however it is believed it was built as an addition to the older rear sections, which were thought to already be on the property when Campbell purchased it. The Campbell Heritage House is located at the crossroads of roads leading to Lake Ainslie and the main highway between Port Hood and Inverness, a location which has made it a local landmark.

Source: Provincial Heritage Program property files, no. 88.

Éléments caractéristiques

Character-defining elements of the Campbell Heritage House related to its modified Gothic Revival style and include:

- two-and-a-half storey wood construction;
- peaked third floor dormer;
- three chimneys;
- gable roof rear ell;
- gable roof dormer in rear ell.

Other character-defining elements of the Campbell Heritage House include:
- front portico;
- front entry framed by sidelights.
- small hipped roof addition to rear ell;
- wooden clapboard cladding.

Character-defining elements that relate to the landscape of the Campbell Heritage House include:
- two large maple trees framing house;
- prominent location at crossroads.