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Mitchell House

1684 Lower Water Street, Halifax, Nouvelle-Écosse, B3J, Canada

Reconnu formellement en: 1981/11/02

Front elevation showing second and third storeys and roof, Mitchell House, Halifax, Nova Scotia, 2005.; Heritage Division, NS Dept. of Tourism, Culture and Heritage, 2005.
Front Elevation
Side elevation including hoist doors, Mitchell House, Halifax, Nova Scotia, 2005.; Heritage Division, NS Dept. of Tourism, Culture and Heritage, 2005.
Side Elevation
View from Lower Water Street, Mitchell Building, Halifax, 2000.; HRM Planning and Development Services, Heritage Property Program, 2000.
Front Elevation

Autre nom(s)

Mitchell House
Sperry Gyroscope of Canada

Liens et documents

Date(s) de construction

1823/01/01 à 1830/12/31

Inscrit au répertoire canadien: 2005/07/19

Énoncé d'importance

Description du lieu patrimonial

Mitchell House is a three storey ironstone Georgian house situated on the north-east corner of the block bounded by Prince and Lower Water Streets in Halifax, Nova Scotia. The designation applies to the footprint of the house and the lot it occupies.

Valeur patrimoniale

The Mitchell House is valued for its architecture, its association with the history of West Indies trading in Halifax, and the Mitchell family who were the original owners and merchants.

George Mitchell purchased the land in 1819, located on the corner of Lower Water and Prince Street. In the mid 1820s he built this ironstone residence and warehouse, replacing an earlier wooden house. It was during this period that shipping merchants, especially those trading with the West Indies such as Enos Colllins, found great success. Mitchell no doubt purchased the lot for its close proximity to the harbour, the shore of which would have been considerably closer to the house during Mitchell’s time and prior to the extensive infill along the harbour font. He would have owned wharves across from his home where his ships would unload and the merchandise sold or transported for storage to the warehouse section of his house.

The house is built of native ironstone and trimmed with sandstone and granite. It is an exceptional Georgian building with five bays, quoined window details and corners, and stone cornice detail. It is similar in style and age to the buildings of Historic Properties, also built for shipping endeavors. The first floor of the Lower Water Street façade is divided in the center by two attractive mid-nineteenth century shop windows. All three storeys are detailed in freestone. The Prince Street façade has is ornamented with corner quoins, string courses and trim on the hoist doors and windows of granite. It has a hip roof with a broad based chimney. There are three hoist doors on the Prince Street façade, not doubt used for the easy transport of goods. Other interior elements, such as trap doors, also indicate that the building was used as a warehouse, added most likely after the Mitchell family moved out and the entire building was used for commercial purposes.

Source: HRM Heritage Property File 1684 Lower Water Street/5110-5122 Prince, Mitchell House, located at HRM Planning and Development Services, Heritage Property Program, 6960 Mumford Road, Halifax, Nova Scotia.

Éléments caractéristiques

The character-defining elements of Mitchell House relate to its Georgian architecture and include:

- ironstone, sandstone and granite building materials;
- five bays on both the Lower Water and Prince Street façades;
- quoined window details and corners;
- stone cornice detail;
- mid-nineteenth century shop windows on Lower Water Street façade;
- freestone details on all storeys;
- corner quoins, string courses and granite trim on hoist doors and windows on Prince Street façade;
- hip-roof
- broad-based chimney.

Reconnaissance

Juridiction

Nouvelle-Écosse

Autorité de reconnaissance

Administrations locales (N.-É.)

Loi habilitante

Heritage Property Act

Type de reconnaissance

Bien inscrit au répertoire municipal

Date de reconnaissance

1981/11/02

Données sur l'histoire

Date(s) importantes

s/o

Thème - catégorie et type

Un territoire à peupler
Les établissements

Catégorie de fonction / Type de fonction

Actuelle

Commerce / Services commerciaux
Bureau ou édifice à bureaux

Historique

Architecte / Concepteur

s/o

Constructeur

s/o

Informations supplémentaires

Emplacement de la documentation

HRM Planning and Development Services, 6960 Mumford Road, Halifax, NS B3L 4P1

Réfère à une collection

See the G.P. Mitchell and Sons fonds, MS-4-214 , at the Dalhousie University Archives.

Identificateur féd./prov./terr.

23MNS0014

Statut

Édité

Inscriptions associées

s/o

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