Churchill House is a historic house and community centre located in

Hantsport, Nova Scotia Hantsport is an unincorporated community in the Canadian province of Nova Scotia, located in West Hants Regional Municipality. The community is situated at the western boundary between West Hants Regional Municipality and Kings County, along ...

. The house was built in 1860 by noted Hantsport shipbuilder

Ezra Churchill Ezra Churchill (May 18, 1804 – May 8, 1874) was a prominent Canadian industrialist who became one of the most successful businessmen in Nova Scotia during the 19th century. As a politician, he held positions in the Nova Scotia legislature and ...

as a gift for his son John Wiley Churchill. The well-preserved example of an

Italianate The Italianate style was a distinct 19th-century phase in the history of Classical architecture. Like Palladianism and Neoclassicism, the Italianate style combined its inspiration from the models and architectural vocabulary of 16th-century It ...

houseArchibald, Stephen and Sheila Stevenson, ''Heritage Houses of Nova Scotia'', Formac Publishing, Halifax (2004), p. 59 today serves as a museum and community centre owned by the non profit corporation Hantsport Memorial Community Centre.

History of house

The Churchills were the owners of

's largest shipbuilding company, which built some of the largest ships in Nova Scotia, including the barque Hamburg, the largest three masted sailing

barque A barque, barc, or bark is a type of sailing ship, sailing vessel with three or more mast (sailing), masts of which the fore mast, mainmast, and any additional masts are Square rig, rigged square, and only the aftmost mast (mizzen in three-maste ...

ever built in Canada. Ezra and his wife Ann had 11 children, two of which were sons who both worked for their father in the shipbuilding industry. The land of the Churchill House and Hantsport Memorial Community Centre grounds was sold by Ezra Churchill to his son John Wiley Churchill in September, 1866, for eight hundred dollars. The house was built about the same time as the Churchills' shipbuilding business in Hantsport took off and gained prominence. Once called The Cedars after the magnificent

cedar Cedar may refer to: Trees and plants *''Cedrus'', common English name cedar, an Old-World genus of coniferous trees in the plant family Pinaceae * Cedar (plant), a list of trees and plants known as cedar Places United States * Cedar, Arizona ...

trees on the property, the house was a fine example of Victorian architecture and the Shipping Era. John Churchill lived here with his wife Mary and two daughters, Violet and Laura, until his death. The first floor of the house was restored in 1966 as a

Canadian Centennial The Canadian Centennial was a yearlong celebration held in 1967 to celebrate the 100th anniversary of Canadian Confederation. Celebrations in Canada occurred throughout the year but culminated on Dominion Day, July 1. Commemorative coins were m ...

project; the two rooms upstairs were restored in 1978 and the master bedroom in 1999. The original colours and designs were matched for the restorations.

References

External links

"Churchill House" ''Nova Scotia Museum Heritage Directory''''Town of Hantsport''

Hantsport Area Historical Society
{{Coord, 45, 03, 52.5, N, 64, 10, 39, W, display=title Victorian architecture in Canada Buildings and structures in Hants County, Nova Scotia Historic house museums in Nova Scotia Museums in Hants County, Nova Scotia Italianate architecture in Canada

History of house

References

Further reading

External links