Nova Scotia Archives

Lunenburg by the Sea

Hearth and Home

Lunenburg is now internationally renowned for the survival and preservation of its distinctive domestic architecture. Visitors have long been impressed with the diversity of the community's individual buildings, which collectively form harmonious streetscapes and give the town much of its unique charm and appeal. Moorsom, writing nearly two centuries ago, was eloquent in his praise of the streetscapes and the tapestry of colour which have survived to the present day:

     ...every householder, from highest to lowest, appears to possess the means of keeping his tenement in repair and good order: a fact by no means too prevalent in other places. The houses are almost all of wood, constructed with a view to comfort rather than to appearance. A whimsical taste has introduced the custom of painting the exterior white, red, pink and even green, which, on approaching from a distance, raised up before my imagination the original of the little Dutch toys I remember, as a child....

Lunenburg's varied architecture includes examples of Cape Cod style, Neo-Classical (Georgian), Scottish (with five-sided Scottish dormers), Gothic Revival, Second Empire, Queen Anne Revival, Four Square and the modern bungalow. Allen Penney, writing in Houses of Nova Scotia (1989) has identified the town's most recognizable style as the 'Lunenburg House' — a ubiquitous design affectionately known to locals as the 'Lunenburg Bump'. Inspired by the five-sided Scottish dormer, local builders took this architectural detail one step further by extending the central dormer out and down from the roof, thereby creating an overhang or 'bump' above the main entrance.

While nineteenth- and early twentieth-century photographs of Lunenburg houses and streetscapes are fairly common, interior views are less frequently encountered. Nevertheless, photographers moved indoors on occasion and some delightful images of parlours, Christmas trees and period decor have survived.

Results 1 to 15 of 29 from your search:

Rose Cottage, Lincoln Street

Reference: Elizabeth Owen Nova Scotia Archives Photo Collection: Places: Lunenburg: Houses: Rose Cottage

Theme: Hearth and Home


Estimate for painting St. John's Anglican Rectory

Date: 14 April 1887

Creator: Alpheus Veinot

Reference: Nova Scotia Archives MG 100 vol. 180 no. 6b

Theme: Hearth and Home


Invoice for wallpaper for St. John's Anglican Rectory

Date: 29 July 1887

Creator: John Lindsay

Reference: Nova Scotia Archives MG 100 vol. 180 no. 6h

Theme: Hearth and Home


80/82 Pelham Street

Date: ca. 1900

Reference: Bailly Family Nova Scotia Archives 1985-562 no. 18 / negative FP/DN1426

Theme: Hearth and Home


Residence with snow banks

Date: ca. 1900

Reference: Bailly Family Nova Scotia Archives 1985-562 no. 35 / negative FP/DN1377

Theme: Hearth and Home


215 Pelham Street

Date: 1890

Reference: Bailly Family Nova Scotia Archives 1985-562 no. 20 / negative FP/DN1424

Theme: Hearth and Home


138 Pelham Street

Date: ca. 1900

Reference: Bailly Family Nova Scotia Archives 1985-562 no. 25 / negative FP/DN1333

Theme: Hearth and Home


6 Archibald Street

Date: ca. 1900

Reference: A. Silver Nova Scotia Archives no. 57

Theme: Hearth and Home


Unidentified house on Montague Street with family and baby carriage

Date: ca. 1900

Reference: Bailly Family Nova Scotia Archives 1985-562 no. 19 / negative FP/ON1425

Theme: Hearth and Home


Home interior with 'Good Luck' horseshoe on door

Date: ca. 1900

Reference: Bailly Family Nova Scotia Archives 1985-562 no. 90 / negative FP/DN1407

Theme: Hearth and Home


Interior of parlour, with family group

Date: ca. 1900

Reference: Bailly Family Nova Scotia Archives 1985-562 no. 130 / negative FP/DN1395

Theme: Hearth and Home


Interior of parlour

Date: ca. 1900

Reference: Bailly Family Nova Scotia Archives 1985-562 no. 91 / negative N-8392

Theme: Hearth and Home


Home interior with decorated Christmas tree

Date: ca. 1900

Reference: Bailly Family Nova Scotia Archives 1985-562 no. 86 / negative N-8393

Theme: Hearth and Home


John B. Young residence, Falkland Street

Date: ca. 1900

Reference: Bailly Family Nova Scotia Archives 1985-562 no. 23 / negative FP/DN1423

Theme: Hearth and Home


Henry Freeman Zwicker in Bertha Silver's House

Date: ca. 1900

Reference: A. Silver Nova Scotia Archives no. 52

Theme: Hearth and Home


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