Home / Accueil

Cannon House

10215 Highway 209, Diligent River, Nova Scotia, B0P, Canada

Formally Recognized: 1989/08/21

Front elevation from Highway 209, Cannon House, Diligent River, Nova Scotia, 2007.
; Heritage Division, NS Dept. of Tourism, Culture and Heritage, 2007
View from Highway
Front elevation, Cannon House, Diligent River, Nova Scotia, 2007.
; Heritage Division, NS Dept. of Tourism, Culture and Heritage, 2007
Front Elevation
Rear elevation, Cannon House, Diligent River, Nova Scotia, 2007.
; Heritage Division, NS Dept. of Tourism, Culture and Heritage, 2007
Rear Elevation

Other Name(s)

n/a

Links and documents

Construction Date(s)

Listed on the Canadian Register: 2007/07/26

Statement of Significance

Description of Historic Place

Cannon House is a turn of the nineteenth-century, one-and-one-half-storey wood frame house located on Highway 209, in Diligent River, Nova Scotia. The building and property are included in the provincial designation.

Heritage Value

Cannon House is valued for its architecture and for its associations with the Cannon family.

Thought to have been constructed circa 1808, homes of this age are uncommon along the Parrsboro shore. Its finely executed exterior detail especially that of the crisply defined cornice, is also uncommon in the area. It has a simple three-bay façade, return eaves and simple window and door surrounds.

The Cannon family has a significant tie to the history of Nova Scotia. The first members arrived from England with Governor Edward Cornwallis to found Halifax in 1749. This parcel of land was originally owned by Mary Cannon who was the mistress Joseph Frederick Wallett Desbarres, former aide-de-camp of General Wolf, lieutenant governor of Cape Breton and renowned cartographer. Cannon became his land agent and became a landowner herself. In 1794 Cannon purchased this land from Loyalist Eleazar Taylor using monies she received as child support from DesBarres.

John Cannon settled on this land, initially probably as a tenant of Mary, who was either his sister or cousin. Here he initially built a log house and later purchased the land. It was after his marriage in 1808 that he likely built the present structure. Cannon House passed to John's son Isaac, a sea captain, and is today in the ownership of his great-granddaughter, which means the house has remained in one family for two-hundred years.

Source: Provincial Heritage Program property file no. 106

Character-Defining Elements

Character-defining elements of Cannon House include:

- one-and-a-half storey wooden construction;
- detailed window and door surrounds;
- cornice;
- three bay front façade;
- central chimney;
-single sash, six-over-six windows;
- wood shingle cladding;
- location in agricultural setting facing the Minas Basin.

Recognition

Jurisdiction

Nova Scotia

Recognition Authority

Province of Nova Scotia

Recognition Statute

Heritage Property Act

Recognition Type

Provincially Registered Property

Recognition Date

1989/08/21

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

Provincial Heritage Program property files, no. 106, 1747 Summer Street, Haliax, Nova Scotia.

Cross-Reference to Collection

Fed/Prov/Terr Identifier

00PNS0106

Status

Published

Related Places

n/a

SEARCH THE CANADIAN REGISTER

Advanced SearchAdvanced Search
Find Nearby PlacesFIND NEARBY PLACES PrintPRINT
Nearby Places