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C.A. MacQuarrie House

51 Queen Street, Truro, Nova Scotia, B2N, Canada

Formally Recognized: 1999/01/08

C. A. MacQuarrie House, south elevation, 2004; Heritage Division, NS Dept. of Tourism, Culture and Heritage, 2004
Front elevation
C. A. MacQuarrie House, porch detail, 2004; Heritage Division, NS Dept. of Tourism, Culture and Heritage, 2004
Porch detail
C. A. MacQuarrie House, central bay and dormer, 2004; Heritage Division, NS Dept. of Tourism, Culture and Heritage, 2004
Central bay with Shingle dormer

Other Name(s)

C.A. MacQuarrie House
51 Queen Street

Links and documents

Construction Date(s)

1889/01/01

Listed on the Canadian Register: 2004/10/04

Statement of Significance

Description of Historic Place

This two-storey wood frame residence is located at 51 Queen Street in Truro, NS in the urban core of the town. It is an elaborated American Foursquare house, with its simple square plan, hipped roof with broad eaves, and symmetrical façade. The gabled entrance porch has turned supports and spindles, and the projecting central bay extends into a pedimented dormer with unusual side walls, clearly influenced by the Shingle style. The designation includes the building and surrounding property.

Heritage Value

Historical Value

This house is valued for its association with C.A. MacQuarrie, a locally prominent pharmacist who moved to Truro from Pictou and established a drugstore on Prince Street in the 1920s. MacQuarrie’s business still exists, and has expanded province-wide under the guidance of his son and grandson.

The house is valued too for its association with James Little (1835-1905), a teacher at the Colchester County Academy and an amateur meteorologist, whose generous bequests are still benefiting students and local churches a century after his death.

Architectural Value

The house is also valued as an excellent example of the American Foursquare style of architecture. Its layered “wedding cake” façade and unusual dormer have made the house a local landmark.

Source: Planning Department, Town of Truro, file 10MNS0024

Character-Defining Elements

Elements that define the building’s external heritage character include:
- basic American Foursquare form and massing;
- hip roofed entrance porch with turned supports and spindle railings, and an intersecting gable front with textured shingles;
- angled central bay over the porch stepped upward and back into a pedimented gable dormer, with Shingle style textured walls supporting the eave overflights on the dormer;
- narrow double-sashed windows with wide corbelled mouldings and matching door surrounds;
- wooden cladding, with trim elements painted in a contrasting colour.

Recognition

Jurisdiction

Nova Scotia

Recognition Authority

Local Governments (NS)

Recognition Statute

Heritage Property Act

Recognition Type

Municipally Registered Property

Recognition Date

1999/01/08

Historical Information

Significant Date(s)

n/a

Theme - Category and Type

Developing Economies
Trade and Commerce
Building Social and Community Life
Education and Social Well-Being

Function - Category and Type

Current

Historic

Residence
Single Dwelling

Architect / Designer

n/a

Builder

n/a

Additional Information

Location of Supporting Documentation

Planning Department, Town of Truro, PO Box 427, Truro, NS B2N 5C5; file 10MNS0024

Cross-Reference to Collection

Fed/Prov/Terr Identifier

10MNS0024

Status

Published

Related Places

n/a

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