Description of Historic Place

Located within the Old Town Heritage Conservation District in Lunenburg, NS, the Smith House is a two-and-a-half storey wooden house with a 'Lunenburg bump' dormer situated on the corner of Hopson and Fox Streets, fronting on Hopson Street. There is yard space between the house and the street line. The designation applies to the building and property.

Heritage Value

This site is considered to have heritage value due to its local historical significance and vernacular architecture. This house was built for brothers Bernard and Napier Smith, two Lunenburg
fishermen. The house is a typical example of Lunenburg architecture of its era, and demonstrates the prosperity of the town in the late nineteenth century. Smith House retains a number of intact original features that are typical of vernacular Lunenburg architecture, including details on the façade and both a front and rear 'Lunenburg bump'- an extended, overhanging five-sided dormer centrally located on the front façade. These features give it a solid and symmetrical appearance, typical of Lunenburg homes of this age.

Source: Notice of Recommendation to Register as a Town Heritage Property, Heritage Designation File 66400-40-20, Town of Lunenburg.

Character-Defining Elements

Character-defining elements of the Smith House consist of all features related to vernacular Lunenburg architecture, including:

- a central frontispiece Lunenburg 'bump'with a two-tiered bell cast roof; the upper section of the bump is five-sided, with narrow roundheaded, bracketed windows, and recessed moulded panels;
- underside of dormer ornamented with delicate, fretsawn gingerbread trim;
- detailed bracketry work such as large curved brackets connect the underside of the dormer to the front door, and prominent, bracketed window hoods;
- front door with flanking sidelights and a transom window, with a wooden storm door;
- symmetrically placed chimneys;
- a sense of height, taken from the lines of the house as well as the slope of Fox Street;
- clapboard siding, trimmed with fluted, bracketed cornerboards.