INSIDE STORY
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to family home BY DENISE FLINT PHOTOS BY STEVE SMITH, VISIONFIRE STUDIOS
e can’t save the world, but we can save one house.” That’s the rationale behind Rob Christie and his wife Irene Szabla’s ambitious plans for the old foundry in Pictou. Since moving to Nova Scotia from Whitehorse in 2011, they’ve seen one beautiful old building after another succumb to neglect and disrepair—walls literally crumbling to dust, and rats and raccoons taking the place of the families who once inhabited these historic old homes. They’re determined not to let it happen to this one. The foundry dates back to 1855 and was built by William Henry Davies, an English ironmonger living in Stellarton. Three separate brick buildings were constructed to house a cupola furnace (used for melting iron), office space, and a machine shop, conveniently located to provide access to both the harbour and the railway. The building in the middle, the foundry, has gone through many incarnations over the years. At one point it contained machine, boiler, moulding, pattern, blacksmith, and carpenter shops. During and after the Second World War, it was used for shipbuilding. In recent years, it has housed everything from a microbrewery and tasting room to a women’s clothing shop, an art gallery, an auction house, and a Saturday market. It was a commercial space when Christie and Szabla first bought the property. They were living on the upper two storeys of an
Home of the original X ring Celebrating 100 years, est. 1922 fine jewellery | watches | giftware Hours: Mon. - Fri. 9 - 5PM and Sat. 9 - 4PM
239 Main St., Antigonish | (902) 863-1283 | cameronsjewellery.ca 34
ah! Spring 2022
At Home on the North Shore
