Built Heritage Resource Guide

Pictou’s Church Street includes three buildings with five-sided dormers, known as “five-sided Scottish dormers" in Nova Scotia although they are known as bay or oriel dormers in Scotland.

Two buildings are wood and one is stone. Five-sided Scottish dormers were probably introduced into Nova Scotia by Scottish stonemasons and carpenters via Pictou and Halifax in the early nineteenth century.

The stone building (third from right) is Lorrain’s Hotel, built by stonemason John Lorrian as an inn and tavern in about 1820.

Scottish, English, German or Irish Vernacular buildings, 1830-1880, in sub-class of the Neoclassical Architecture in Canada, include the following characteristics:

- wood, brick or stone construction
- 1 ½ to 2 ½ storeys
- steeply pitched gable roof without eaves or decoration
- dormers absent, undersized or five-sided Scottish, large central chimney, or end wall chimneys
- centered doorway, rectangular transoms and side lights, symmetrical facade
- detached, semi-detached or terrace houses
- Roman, Greek and gothic details in windows
- and not designed by an architect.

Date: ca. 1908?

Reference: Jack Woolner Nova Scotia Archives accession no. 1983-309 no. 8 / negative N-9908