Description of Historic Place

52 Nerepis Road is a two-storey wooden residence with features that speak to its former use as a local corner store. The building is located very near the curb, with the main entrance facing the road.

Heritage Value

52 Nerepis Road is designated a Local Historic Place for its heritage value related to its former use as a community store. Built as a residence in 1897 by Armstrong Elliot, the building was sold at the turn of the 20th century to J. A. Gilliland. A growing need for an “all purpose” shop catering to the needs of the Saint John families who spent their summers in the area led Gilliland to open such a business in a small building in the back yard of 52 Nerepis. He enlarged the home shortly thereafter, creating room on the main level for the shop as well as a number of rooms for boarders. Gilliland’s daughter Annie and her husband Foster Kirkpatrick operated the store for a number of years; during this time it became known as “Gilliland’s” or “Annie’s.” Upon Annie’s retirement in the 1930s the business was rented to Bert Cosman, who found the space inconvenient and built a new structure next door to house the shop in 1937. 52 Nerepis has since been owned by a number of individuals who have returned the building to its original use as a residence.

Although altered over the years, certain architectural features remain, such as the projected entrance facing the road, that speak to the building’s historical use as a community store.

Source: Grand Bay-Westfield Historic Places files, 52 Nerepis Road

Character-Defining Elements

The character-defining elements of the building include:
- location close to the curb along Nerepis Road in the area formerly known as “Ononette”, historically home to many summer residents from Saint John;
- certain original architectural features, including rectangular massing (the result of the turn of the 20th century addition), low-pitch gable roof; projected entrance; wrap-around veranda; clapboard siding.