This 19th-century “L” shaped farmhouse was built by Archie McFee for Wentworth and Sarah Taylor. In 1946, Donald MacMillan Sr. bought the house from Alexander Stirling MacMillan, Nova Scotia premier from 1940 to 1945, for $2,300. His son Donald and his wife Marlene bought the property in 1972. The parlour still houses one of the former premier’s mahogany couches.
Catalogue info: This Cape Cod style house was built by Ewan MacKinnon about 1825. The house featured two marbleized mantle pieces (oil on plaster c. 1850) with two corresponding free-hand painted over mantles (oil on wood c.1850). One of the over mantles featured a 'tree of life' motif. The over mantle paintings and wooden mantle piece were removed from the house in 1984.
The construction date of this modest cape cod style home is uncertain. The date 1850 is carved into the central chimney of the home but social historian Kenneth Gilmour, from Nova Scotia Museum, believes that the home predates this inscription.
On June 29th, 1867 the corner stone of the church was laid and the foundation blessed by Very Rev. Dr. John Cameron. Sylvester O'Donoghue, a native Irishmen, built the Cathedral. Originally, the architect Owen Hamill was retained to design and oversee the construction of the Church but he died prematurely in 1868. As such, St. Ninian's was completed by architect A. Levesque of Montreal.
