73 Pleasant Street, c. 1895

The plain frame house at 73 Pleasant Street represents the housing tradition of Antigonish's 19th-century working class. The original occupant was John W. Kell, a livery keeper and carriage maker. He lived there from 1895 to 1901, when he sold the house to John J. Bowie who was employed by T.J. Sears, a stage coach operator. Bowie drove the Antigonish - Goldenville route delivering goods and carrying passengers for eight years. In 1902 he became manager of Sear's Stables and then went on to work for the Whidden livery stables.

The architectural antecedents of this gable-fronted house can be traced back to Greek Revival. Like the house at 34 Hawthorne Street, it features the traditional "gable-end-to-the-road" design, an off-centre doorway, side-hall plan, and hooded windows. Admittedly the affinity with a Greek Temple, apart from the main entrance on the gable end, is faint. However, in most working class architecture, economy and function overrode stylistic purity and pretension. The simplicity of the house is somewhat relieved by the side porch and the decorative shingling. Manufactured with a shingle machine and band saw, the half circle butts give the house exterior a scalloped appearance. This cladding effect became popular in the 1870s and 1890s when the Queen Anne style was popular.

Denise Surette

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