34 Hawthorne Street, c. 1867

This simple house was built in 1867 by Alexander Grant, a trader and innkeeper. Unfortunately, he died within two years, and left the house to his widow and four children. His wife, Catherine, remained here until 1900 when she moved to Pictou; by then, her children had joined the stream of outmigration and scattered to Colorado, Illinois and Rhode Island.

The 1 1/2 storey house is a wooden vernacular adaptation of Greek Revival style. Built on an axis similar to that of a classical temple, 34 Hawthorne is gable fronted and features the traditional off-centre door way and side-hall plan. The plain corner pilasters, the paired second-storey square and hooded windows and the steep pitch of the gable roof exemplify the importance of straight line in Greek Revival design. The austerity of the house is relieved only by the one-storey porch with brackets and dentils. With its emphasis on function and mininum exterior trim, 34 Hawthorne is representative of the style of house owned by tradespeople, widows and spinsters in Antigonish. The Greek Revival design with its end gable entry also lent itself to narrow town lots and was popular in developing towns and cities.

Lisa Illsley