The Carpenter Gothic came into existence after the invention of the scroll saw. This tool permitted carpenters to create fancy gingerbread/ bargeboard/vergeboard along the eaves and exotic verandahs through the creation of spindles and shaped posts. The rest of the house is often quite plain with clapboard or board and batten siding. Although the style may appear 'overdone' the end results are usually quite charming.
This Stoney Creek house was built in 1801 and named Squire Hall.What to look for (clues)
- The verandah and eaves are dead give-aways
- The house is normally well-painted with white for the verandah and one or two colours on the remainder. (there are always exceptions to this.)
- There is usually at least one gable roof pointed towards the street.
- Additional fancy balconies may be added to any flat section.
Unfortunately, this style is relatively rare. The beautiful example exhibited at the top is at Mahone Bay in one of the loveliest villages in Nova Scotia.
The Stoney Creek example, in 1897, became the home of the world's first Women's Institute. The home belonged at this time to Erland Lee.
The third, slightly 'used' example is located in St. Marys. The picture on the right gives you an example of the detailing that went into these houses.
In the United States the style is usually called Folk Victorian. (I still lament for a charming Folk Victorian that was used as a tourist bureau in Biloxi, Mississippi. The next hurricane, after I was there, sent thundering waves a couple of hundred yards beyond where this building had
been located.)
This is not Squires Hall, it is The Erland Lee Home, once known as Edgemont Farm.
ReplyDeleteThe first Women's Institute was formed on Feb 19 1897 at Squires Hall in Stoney Creek, but the Constitution was written here at the Erland Lee home, by Mrs Janet Lee, Mr Erland Lee, and Mrs Adelaide Hunter Hoodless.