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Howard House

216 Fountain Road, Middleboro, Nova Scotia, B0M, Canada

Formally Recognized: 1995/10/04

View of Howard House and property, Middleboro, NS, 2009.; Heritage Division, NS Dept of Tourism, Culture and Heritage, 2009
Setting
Road-side elevation, Howard House, Middleboro, NS, 2009.; Heritage Division, NS Dept of Tourism, Culture and Heritage, 2009
Road-facing Elevation
Main entry detail, Howard House, Middleboro, NS, 2009.; Heritage Division, NS Dept of Tourism, Culture and Heritage, 2009
Main Entry

Other Name(s)

n/a

Links and documents

Construction Date(s)

1872/01/01 to 1872/12/31

Listed on the Canadian Register: 2009/02/24

Statement of Significance

Description of Historic Place

The Howard House, built in 1872, is located on a rural road in Middleboro, near the town of Wallace, N.S. The large, two-storey farmhouse sits on its original location on an open lawn but concealed from the road by the many trees growing along the edge of the property. The building and the property are included in the municipal designation.

Heritage Value

The heritage value of the Howard House lies in the important role the original owner had on the industrial, economic and political development of this part of Cumberland County. Ephraim Howard was a successful blacksmith, farmer, lumberman, businessman, industrialist and politician. He owned a grist mill and a lumber mill on the Wallace River and the material for this house was cut at his mill. Howard also served as a Justice of the Peace, County Warden and County Councilor for the Wallace district for many years.

The house, one of the oldest homes in the area, is in excellent condition, and is also valued as a good example of the style of house built by successful farmers in this area during the Victorian era. The large, T-shaped house displays architectural elements from the popular Gothic Revival and Classic Revival styles. Of particular note are the distinctive front and the side, box bay windows topped with decorative brackets and dentils and a heavy cornice. The shape and ornamentation of the windows is echoed in the front entry, which is a double door framed by a transom, sidelights and pilasters. The side bay window on the second floor has the very unusual decoration of crenellation along the eave of the window hood. Also of note are the steeply-pitched, cross-gable roofs, and the bargeboard decorating the edge of the side verandah.

Source: “Heritage Properties County, Howard House” File, Cumberland County Museum

Character-Defining Elements

Character-defining elements of the Howard House include:

- original site, form and massing;
- t-shape floor plan with cross-gable roof;
- asymmetrical;
- box bay windows and entry;
- protruding lintels over windows;
- exterior clapboard.

Character-defining Gothic Revival elements of the Howard House include:

- steeply-pitched roof;
- dormers with steeply-pitched roof;
- crenellation decorating the second-floor window hood;
- simple but decorative bargeboard on verandah roof edge.

Character-defining Classic Revival elements of the Howard House include:

- front entry with pilasters, double door, and rectangular, multi-pane transom and sidelights;
- dentils and brackets decorating the eaves at roof and above bay windows.

Recognition

Jurisdiction

Nova Scotia

Recognition Authority

Local Governments (NS)

Recognition Statute

Heritage Property Act

Recognition Type

Municipally Registered Property

Recognition Date

1995/10/04

Historical Information

Significant Date(s)

n/a

Theme - Category and Type

Expressing Intellectual and Cultural Life
Architecture and Design
Peopling the Land
Settlement

Function - Category and Type

Current

Residence
Single Dwelling

Historic

Architect / Designer

n/a

Builder

n/a

Additional Information

Location of Supporting Documentation

"Heritage Property County, Howard House" File, Cumberland County Museum and Archives, 150 Church St, Amherst, NS B4H 3C4

Cross-Reference to Collection

Fed/Prov/Terr Identifier

11MNS0084

Status

Published

Related Places

n/a

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