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Doak House

386 Main Street, Doaktown, New Brunswick, E9C, Canada

Formally Recognized: 2008/02/13

Front and side elevations of the Doak House Provincial Historic Site, Doaktown, New Brunswick; Province of New Brunswick
Doak House
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Other Name(s)

n/a

Links and documents

Construction Date(s)

Listed on the Canadian Register: 2008/07/16

Statement of Significance

Description of Historic Place

The Doak House consists of an early 19th-century vernacular residence with a period barn set on a former farm property. The house, barn and grounds are located on the south side of Main Street in the lower part of the Village of Doaktown.

Heritage Value

The Doak House, including the barn and grounds, is valued for its association with Squire Robert Doak, a Scottish immigrant farmer and innkeeper who lived in several areas along the Miramichi before settling in the Parish of Ludlow in 1821, later to be known as Doakton, and then Doaktown, his namesake. Robert Doak established a sawmill, a carding mill and a gristmill and soon became a prominent and influential figure within the parish. He served in many appointed positions including Justice of the Peace, town clerk and school trustee.

Doak House is also valued for its vernacular architecture with modest Classical influence. In its form, massing and details, it is architecturally reminiscent of cottages from the owner's homeland of Scotland. This place was constructed circa 1825. A later east-end addition was built circa 1860. The barn situated on the grounds is characteristic of 19th-century outbuilding architecture. The Doak House remained within the Doak family for four generations, when it received designation as a Provincial Protected Historic Site and provincial ownership, largely due to the efforts of resident William Russell MacKinnon, who spearheaded the recognition of this historic place. The Doak House and grounds exemplify an excellent example of an efficient operational farm of bygone days that employed village residents and children at harvest time for four generations. Today the property is open to the public on a seasonal basis.

Source: Village of Doaktown, Historic Places Site File #08-10

Character-Defining Elements

The character-defining elements relating to the exterior of the Doak House include:
- rectangular one-and-a-half storey Scottish cottage form and massing;
- dormer wholly contained within the roofline;
- narrow eaves with returns;
- clad in wooden clapboards;
- corner boards;
- centrally located chimney;
- 6/6 double hung windows;
- wooden shingled roof;
- sandstone foundation.

The character-defining elements relating to the grounds of Doak House include:
- residence situated parallel to roadside offset by narrow front grounds;
- low wooden picket fencing extending across the front grounds and adjacent barn to the west;
- typical rectangular 19th-century barn with clapboards and a gable roof;
- fallow fields situated in the rear of the grounds.

Recognition

Jurisdiction

New Brunswick

Recognition Authority

Local Governments (NB)

Recognition Statute

Local Historic Places Program

Recognition Type

Municipal Register of Local Historic Places

Recognition Date

2008/02/13

Historical Information

Significant Date(s)

1860/01/01 to 1860/01/01

Theme - Category and Type

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

Function - Category and Type

Current

Leisure
Historic or Interpretive Site

Historic

Residence
Single Dwelling

Architect / Designer

n/a

Builder

n/a

Additional Information

Location of Supporting Documentation

Village of Doaktown, Village Office, Historic Place Site File #08-10

Cross-Reference to Collection

Fed/Prov/Terr Identifier

1541

Status

Published

Related Places

n/a

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