Still Standing on Pleasant Street

Sunnyside — 144 Pleasant Street, Dartmouth

A Gothic revival landmark overlooking Halifax Harbour and now facing an uncertain future.

I have walked by this house a hundred times, often stopping to just stand and look at it. It must have been a beautiful house. How could anyone let it deteriorate to such an extent? Now fit only for raccoons and other critters, I vowed that if I ever saw a neighbour, I would stop and ask them if they knew anything about the history of the house. My chance finally came and after talking to a very knowledgeable and friendly lady, I came home and followed up with some online research.

The area where this house is located was once one of Dartmouth’s most prestigious areas. Many of Dartmouth’s affluent families built large estates here. With magnificent views of Halifax Harbour, these estates boasted of beautiful rose gardens, foreign trees and majestic floral displays.

Sunnyside sits on the south side of Pleasant Street, between the intersections of Newcastle and Old Ferry Road. Built in 1854, it was originally part of the large Mount Amelia estate owned by the Honourable James William Johnston, Premier of Nova Scotia from 1857 to 1860 and again from 1864. A new road (now Pleasant Street) to Eastern Passage cut right through Mount Amelia and created a triangular parcel of roughly 2.75 acres, which the Premier sold to his son James William Johnston Jr. in 1847 for £125. Seven years later, Sunnyside was completed.

Johnston Jr. hired architect Henry Stephen Elliot to design a home for him and his family. Sunnyside was finished 1854. With its pointed gables and decorative trim, Sunnyside reflected the Gothic Revival style popular in Dartmouth between 1830 and 1890. Elliott was a well-known architect who designed Evergreen as well as other prominent houses in Dartmouth.

Johnston Jr. graduated from Acadia College and later studied law under his father. In 1876 he was appointed County Judge for District 1 of Halifax County. In 1872 he drafted a charter for the incorporation of Dartmouth and in July of the same year, ratepayers voted in favour of incorporation.

In August, 2022, Sunnyside was included in the Registry of Heritage Property for the Halifax Regional Municipality.

The house is currently listed as a tax sale property, meaning the house is being sold via public tender to recover unpaid property tax that are in arrears for over a year. It is being sold ‘as is’ — a stark contrast to the prestige it once represented.

I still walk by this house. And I still look down, trying to imagine Sunnyside as it once was, roses in bloom, harbour glittering beyond the trees.

Deed History

This history is not complete but will give you a general idea of the various owners.

• James William Johnston (Sr.). Attorney General of Nova Scotia and Louise Johnston (his second wife) to James William Johnston (Jr.), barrister / for £125 / Sept. 1, 1847.

• James William Johnston, Judge of District 1 of Halifax and Katherine Prescott Johnston (his wife) to Arthur Clement Johnston (esquire) / for $2 / Nov. 5, 1891

• Arthur C. Johnston (accountant) and Annie H. Johnston (his wife) to Robert J. Matheson (manufacturer) / for $1/ July, 1901.

• Robert J. Matheson (manufacturer) and Rhoda Mabel Matheson (his wife) to Jacob Trueb (chocolate maker) / for $1 / Apr. 7, 1904.

• Jacob Trueb (chocolate maker) and Ida R. Trueb (his wife) to David Thomas Leslie (lobster packer) / for $1 / Jan. 22, 1936.

• David Thomas Leslie (lobster packer) and Edith Leslie (his wife) to Jean O’Dell Leslie (spinster) / for $1 /Jan 22, 1936.

• Jean O’Dell Fuller (nee Leslie) to Charles W. Moffatt (druggist) / $1 / May 13, 1946.

• Charles W. Moffatt (druggist) and Marjorie E. A. Moffat (his wife) to Percy Y. Porter (registered nurse) / $1 / May 13, 1946.

• Percy Y. Porter (widower) to Kenneth J. Dacey and Suzanne Margaret Dacey (his wife) as joint tenants / $1 /May 4, 1973

• Suzanne Margaret Dacey to Kenneth John Dacey / $1 / Jan 17, 1985