Our property is about an acre and a half, with 150' of frontage on Tanner's Cove, a small cove off of the Atlantic. The cove is protected enough from the ocean waves and swell to allow a mooring and wharf, but we are exposed to the effects of the nor'easters that blow through in the fall and winter months. The house was originally a small one-story cape style and was built some time in the 1800's. Sometime around the turn of the century (last century, that is) the roof was raised and a "half" second floor was added, along with the Lunenburg bump, an architectural feature unique to the area.
We purchased the property in 1999 from a Swiss gentleman who bought it as a vacation home from the original fisherman's wife a few years earlier. Unfortunately, he became ill and was forced to sell. In addition to the main house and a 20' x 40' wharf, we have a building at the wharf (originally used for storing nets, etc) known locally as a "fishstore", a building beside it used as a workshop, a storage building with a root cellar beside the house and a small shed in front of the house (which we use as a garden shed). Oh yes, we can't forget the two-seater outhouse! As the original listing for the property said, a "maritime ensemble".
The house is quite small, and when we purchased it had been covered with vinyl siding, had ugly windows and had lost all its charm. When we bought the place, we kept telling ourselves that we bought a property, not a house. After living in the house for a year or so, our plans for making changes came together. We thought about building an addition, but once we learned that there were always two families living in the house, with kids, we decided that we didn't need more room for the two of us. Instead, we decided to put it back closer to its original state. We came up with a plan for both inside and out.
The previous owner (who now lives in Lunenburg) told us that the wood shingles under the siding was in perfect shape. With that information, we set to work and removed the siding. Once that was done, we replaced all of the windows with old style, wood sash "two over two's" just as would have been in the house originally, relocating them to their original placement. In fact, we had the windows (and doors) made by the same family that probably made the originals. We then built back the "Lunenburg bump" that had been sliced off to make it easier to install the siding, found where the original front door was and reinstalled it and basically put the outside back to the way we felt it would have been originally. Imagine our surprise when the previous owner gave us copies of the house from the 1950's, and sure enough, what we had done was pretty much spot on.
The inside of the house had been changed around many times over the years to accommodate the needs of the families living in it, and to "modernize" it by covering old wood with tiles and shag carpet, installing "modern" kitchen cabinets and the like. We set to work removing flooring, moving walls, building a "new" kitchen and generally putting some character back into the house. We're very happy with the results. You can see the "before and after" pictures in the gallery.
The "Swiss guy" had the fishstore redone as a cabin with a living area and large bedroom, but no plumbing. We have since modified it to add some storage and clothes closets and put a window in the east wall facing out the cove. This has become our sleeping quarters. Each night, after supper, we head down to the fishstore to relax and retire for the evening. It's very enjoyable in the summer, but sometimes in those cold nor'easters we question our choice. But then to fall asleep to the sound of the water lapping against the pilings under the building, and to wake in the morning to the sun rising over the ocean on the horizon, we know that it's well worth it.
In the 1990's the government offered a program to help the fishermen upgrade their wharves. The government paid for the materials and the fishermen paid for labour to build commercial quality wharves at their property. The owner of our property took advantage of the offer and we have a 20' x 40' wharf that you could drive a truck on. We heard stories from our neighbour's that when the wharf was built the previous owner had all the materials delivered (and paid for by the government) but then proceeded to cut corners on the construction (after all, he was paying for labour ). Instead of rebuilding what was to be the middle crib of the wharf, he left his old crib (which used to be the end of his wharf). He also had the workers use only one nail per deck plank at each crosspiece instead of two. The fisherman then sold the excess materials thereby not only saving money on labour, but also making a little extra.
All was fine until Hurricane Juan roared through our area in September 2003. The water level was some 8 to 10 feet above the usual highest high tide, and the waves were crashing up our cove. Needless to say, the middle crib gave way and a lot of the planking pulled out of the framing resulting in a costly repair job. In fact, the water was so high that the fishstore actually started to float and a couple of timbers supporting it moved out of position. We were lucky that the damage wasn't worse.
In the fall of 2005 we replaced our wooden "skidway" with a concrete ramp and railroad track to allow us to haul Malolo for the winter months. We purchased the track from a small railway on the other side of Nova Scotia and had the local towing company deliver it for us. A friend with a backhoe moved the pieces into position on the concrete and we lag bolted everything in place. We purchased a metal cradle and modified it to fit our boat and we were all set. When we're ready to haul out, we get everything all set and then call the towing company to provide the motive power.