The earliest surviving buildings in Mahone Bay are Neoclassical, built in the first period of British colonialism (1749-1830). In Great Britain similar buildings would be termed Georgian and they are similarly labeled in the United States except that those of post-revolutionary war vintage are called Federal.
The term "Georgian" has somewhat grand pretensions attached to it, and
very few of our homes of this time are elaborate. It was during the
reign of George II that the pattern-books of the Italian architect
Andrea Palladio became widely circulated. The English writers Stuart
and Revett took up his theme, writing about ancient Greek
architecture. That spurred a lot of archaeological digging and graphic
art work, and this resulted in many publications
showing measured
drawings of Greek and Roman buildings. This led to a "new" style in
building called Neo-classical, literally, "New--classical." For
about a hundred years English builders (1730-1830) were entirely
enthralled by this new way of constructing buildings. In Britain they
were constructed of stone or brick and some of them were palatial and
most of them were large.
More than a hundred pattern books touting this style were imported into
the United States and many of them built in America were massive and constructed of stone, but some were
built using wood, sometimes cleverly crafted to resemble the work of masons.
In Nova Scotia many of our colonial homes are very modest in size and
while they show affinities with American ideas of proportion and finish
they do not appear to spring directly from those Neo-classical
pattern-books. There were some, like Uniacke House, which
are taken directly from these sources, but most of these no longer
stand.
The region was a hostile place for expensive housing between 1713 and
1815 because of the incessant brawls between the French, the English
and the Americans. Small modest houses built of wood always appealed in
the face of threats of war. Larger buildings of this time were
sponsored by government and typically designed in Britain. The first
residence of a Governor General in Nova Scotia was prefabricated of stone and
shipped here from Boston.
The Neo-classical style was preferred for a very long time because a
continuous war-footing is not one that promotes change. In addition,
power-tools were not yet available to the building trades and the
house-building apprenticeship demanded seven years of training; both
factors favoring conservatism in architecture.
While very
few really grand house s were built in this style substantial two-story
versions exist locally and these usually have grand central entrance
halls which rival the other rooms in size. A few gambrel roofed houses
existed in the last century but roof upkeep was was a problem and most
fell into disrepair and are no longer seen.
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Neoclassic
76 Maple Street
Mahone Bay, Nova Scotia
The small
single-storey "Cape Cod" originated in New England and remains a
popular solution for getting the most floor area at a low cost. The
original model always featured a huge square central chimney, a small
overhang of roof, windows close to the eaves and a roof showing a slope
of less than 45°. Sometimes a "Half Cape" or "Three-Quarter Cape" was built with the
intention of completing the
more usual five-bay symmetry when an addition could be afforded.
Because most of
our Neo-classic homes have been around for a couple of centuries they
have often been bastardized inside and out.
1. Doors were usually paneled and of fine craftsmanship in terms of woodworking
and hardware. Modest homes featured transom lights over the door;
larger dwellings had elaborate fanlights.
2. Windows were vertical sliders, which appear very large in proportion
to the house by today's standards. The glass consisted of small panes.
Quite often the number of panes in the upper sash is larger than those
in the lower.
3. Corner trim and that used to surround doors and windows was ordinarily very
simple. Corner turns on the gable end of the house were similarly
restrained.
4. The slope of the roof was normally less than 45° in the prototypes. The
angled roof is less suited to shedding snow than its Acadian
counterpart. As a result survivors in this style are distinguishable
from modern copies by the fact that the roof is frequently bowed down
toward the centre from years of carrying a annual load of snow..
5. Massive chimneys and chimney foundations were the rule.
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| For structural information click on any of the above illustrations or click "read on" to see local examples.
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