Description of Historic Place

126 Brunswick Street is a medium sized three storey Tudor Revival style home on a sloping lot on Brunswick Street in Dalhousie. The Local Historic Place designation applies to the building on its footprint.

Heritage Value

126 Brunswick Street is designated a Local Historic Place because of its architect and its construction method.

126 Brunswick Street is recognized for its architecture. Designed and built by Frederick J. Bateman, Dalhousie Town Engineer during the late 1930s and into the 1940s, this building was said to be patterned after a French chateau Bateman saw during the Great War. Bateman was an expert on construction with concrete. He was responsible for the design and construction of the Dalhousie Town Hall, the concrete paving of Dalhousie's main streets and, in 1940, the planning and building of his residence at 126 Brunswick Street.

126 Brunswick Street is also recognized for its construction method. The residence is unique in Dalhousie for its construction with pre-formed concrete slabs. Exterior and interior walls, 20 to 30 cm thick, were cast in horizontal moulds and were lifted into position when cured. To support these massive walls the main floor was cast in place with railway rail re-enforcing. Even the exposed interior "wooden" support beams are of painted concrete.

Source: Restigouche Regional Museum, Dalhousie, Local Historic Place file: “126 Brunswick Street“.

Character-Defining Elements

The character-defining elements that describe 126 Brunswick Street include:
- traditional asymmetrical Tudor Revival massing;
- gable and hipped roofs;
- unique concrete construction by Frederick J. Bateman;
- concrete interior and exterior walls;
- erected slab construction;
- concrete main floor with train rail re-enforcement;
- faux wood beams of concrete.