Description of Historic Place

The Senator John Lovitt Barn is a simple wood frame Gothic Revival style building constructed around 1862. It is located on Parade Street behind Sen. John Lovitt's House at 10 Parade Street, a block east of the main business district and near the waterfront of Yarmouth, Nova Scotia. Municipal heritage designation applies to the building and its residential lot.

Heritage Value

The Senator John Lovitt Barn is valued for its historical associations with the Lovitt family and early means of transportation within the town into the early 20th century. It is also valued for its simple Gothic Revival architecture.

Senator John Lovitt, the original owner of this property when it was built around 1862, was from a very prominent family in Yarmouth which included the town’s first mayor and some of the wealthiest ship owners and brokers in the province at the time. This is one of the very few barns still standing in the centre town area, and is a reminder of the days when horses and buggies were the most common mode of land transportation.

The simple Gothic Revival style architecture of this building is typical of those that stood near the back lot lines of many properties within the town, when a horse and buggy was the principal mode of transportation. It has a medium pitched gable roof with an east-facing cross gable, return eaves and rectangular massing. Most other barns and carriage houses near the centre town area have long since disappeared or have been remodelled into more modern garages.

Source: Registered Heritage Property files, Town of Yarmouth, NS.

Character-Defining Elements

The character-defining elements of the Sen. John Lovitt Barn include:

- location near the central business district
- setback to the rear lot line of the Sen. John Lovitt House property at 10 Parade Street
- adjacency to two other registered heritage properties

The character-defining elements of the Gothic Revival architecture of the Sen. John Lovitt barn include:

- simple rectangular massing
- wood frame construction
- shingle cladding
- medium pitched gable roof
- centred cross gable on east side
- return eaves
- large gable end bay door
- off-centre secondary entrances on east and west sides
- double hung sash windows with multi-pane glazing
- corner-board trim