Description du lieu patrimonial

Built circa 1866, the Lincoln Meister House is a large vernacular home located on a small knoll at the edge of Highway 12 that passes through New Ross, Nova Scotia. The Municipal Heritage Designation applies to the building and surrounding property.

Valeur patrimoniale

The Lincoln Meister House is valued for its age, historical association with the Meister family and vernacular architecture. Built circa 1866 by Isaac Morse, the home was sold in 1887 to Lincoln Meister, where he and his wife raised fourteen children. The home has only passed through one generation in one-hundred and twenty-one years making its association with the Meister family particularly strong.

The home’s front elevation is predominantly Greek Revival in style and features a small projecting cross gable with a pedimented top and corner boards with simple capitals. All windows on the front elevation feature ornate window hoods, which combine with the other elements to give the home a stately presence from the road.

The home features several additions including a small sun porch on the south elevation of the home and a cross gable addition on the rear elevation that subsequently had a small lean addition and a shed roof dormer added to its north elevation.

These vernacular elements are incorporated into the original architecture of the home by the use of architectural elements such as corner boards, frieze boards and window hoods consistent with the Greek Revival theme found on the front elevation of the home.

Source: Municipality of the District of Chester Heritage Property Files.

Éléments caractéristiques

The character-defining elements of the Lincoln Meister House that relate to its vernacular architecture include:

- cross gable addition on west elevation of main gable;
- lean addition to cross gable addition on north elevation;
- shed roof dormer;
- sun porch;

The character-defining elements of the Lincoln Meister House that relate to its Greek Revival architecture include:

- ridgeline facing Highway 12;
- centrally located cross gable on front (east) elevation featuring exceptionally long return eaves connected by recessed moulding creating a pediment;
- decorative octagonal wooden shingles within pediment;
- square wooden shingles siding;
- two-over-two windows with hoods on side elevations of front cross gable at second storey over windows of same design on first storey;
- two-over-two windows with hoods located on each side of front cross gable at second storey directly over windows of same design on first storey;
- wide corner boards topped with simple capitals on all corners;
- all windows, except sun porch and shed roof addition, are two-over-two windows with hoods;
- all ridgeline eaves feature return eaves;
- plain wide frieze boards running under all eaves.