39 Alma Street

STREET ADDRESS: 39 Alma Street

CITY/TOWN/VILLAGE: Yarmouth

MUNICIPALITY: Yarmouth

COUNTY: Yarmouth

YEAR BUILT: 1865-1869

ARCHITECTURAL COMMENT:

Greek Revival in style this is a one and a half storey home of wood construction. The symmetrical two bay facade has an off-centered doorway. The steeply pitched gable roof has non-return eaves and double matching gables at the sides. The inset chimney is placed discreetly at the peak. The portico is in an enclosed porch with side lights. The windows are two over two double hung and trimmed with large casings and eyebrow labels. There is a three sided bay at the front trimmed at the base with rectangular panels. A gable roof ell extends to the rear, this contains a shed roofed dormer and a second chimney. The house is clad in narrow, wooden clapboard and trimmed with a plain frieze and narrow cornerboards. The foundation is made of cemented stone. The above ground exterior has been faced with concrete.

HISTORICAL COMMENT:

Believed to have been built between 1865 and 1869 for Joseph Sleeth, a blacksmith, this house is now owned by Eric and Barbara Ruff and is a registered heritage property. From 1883 until 1925 the house was owned by the Sanderson family Gilbert O. Sanderson and his son George g. were in the mercantile business. Captain Gilbert Sanderson sold the house to George in 1890. George Sanderson was a prominent shipowner and also a broker for the commercial Insurance Company. He was on the committee which built the Old Ladies Home in 1889 and was later a township warden. He is most noted, though, as being on the first town council after Yarmouth's incorporation in 1890. In 1916 George Sanderson and his wife Fannie sold the house to their son Claude L. Sanderson. Claude Sanderson was educated at Acadia and Dalhousie Universities and received his L.L.B. in 1905. He practiced law for fifty-nine years and was Dean of Local Barristers and a member of the Council of Nova Scotia Barristers Society.

CONTEXTUAL COMMENT:

Situated on its original site on the South East corner of Alma and Carleton Streets this house has been well maintained and his surrounded by well kept lawns. Early photos show no major changes to the architecture.

PRESENT OWNER: Eric and Barbara Ruff

ADDRESS: 39 Alma Street Yarmouth, N.S.

ORIGINAL OWNER: Joseph Sleeth

OCCUPATION: Blacksmith

BUILDER: Unknown

ORIGINAL USE: Residential

PRESENT USE: Residential

COMMENTS ON HISTORICAL ASSOCIATIONS:

Joseph Sleeth, in later years, became a deputy Sheriff and then the town jailer.

SOURCES: Registry of Deeds/Probate (Yarmouth) A.F. Church Map (1870) B.E.V. MAP OF TOWN OF YARMOUTH (1878) Vanguard Article by Kit Lockhart Yarmouth Directories, 1890, 1895