Historic house in Sydney, N.S., opens doors to the public

Historic House harkens to the past Cossitt House is one of Cape Breton's oldest buildings – constructed in 1787.

One of the oldest family homes in the north end of Sydney, N.S., opened its doors to the public this week.

Cossitt House is one of Cape Breton’s oldest family homes. It was built in 1787 for Reverend Ranna Cossitt and his family who moved to Nova Scotia from Claremont, N.H., after the revolutionary war.

Today, Cossitt House is a museum.

Rachel Adams is a Cossitt House historical interpreter. She said it is believed that the house was built by boat builders in Virginia.

“The boat builders did it in the way they built the boats,” Adams said. “One reasons why it’s lasted 237 years. It is done with tenon and mortise joints.

“They pre-built it. Everything was constructed. Everything was numbered and then it was shipped here.”

Cossitt House still has functional kitchen gardens with medicinal herbs said Cossitt House historical interpreter Jillian Trenchard.

“All of these spices weren’t actually used as flavouring, they were used for their medicinal purposes,” Trenchard said. She said the house would often smell like gingerbread thanks to the presence of nutmeg in savoury dishes.

Cossitt House changed hands a few times after the Cossitt’s sold and eventually became a rooming house, said Claire Roach, the executive director of the Old Sydney Society.

“It became vacant,” Roach said. “The Old Sydney Society stepped in and worked with the provincial government. It became a Nova Scotia museum in 1977 and has been a cornerstone in the historic north end district of Sydney.”

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