This old house: Bathurst group finalist to win $50K for repairs to historical property

CBC

06-04-2025

A New Brunswick organization is hoping to get a big helping hand to restore a heritage site.
Doucet Hennessy House in Bathurst is a finalist in the Next Great Save, a competition from the non-profit National Trust for Canada, where the winner gets $50,000 to go toward preserving or renewing a heritage place.
Melynda Jarratt, president of the Doucet Hennessy House Association, said there are a lot of deserving heritage sites in Canada, but she still thought it worth entering.
"I thought, oh well, it's a chance," she said. "If you don't apply, it's like winning the lotto, right? If you don't buy the ticket, you can't win."
Getting chosen felt like graduating from university, said Jarratt. "I threw my hat up in the air!"
Doucet Hennessy House is more than 200 years old. The homestead, which sits at the top of a hill on St. Peter Avenue and overlooks the Bay of Chaleur, was home to the Doucet family first and then the Hennessy family.
According to the group's submission to the competition, the house was built in 1812 by Charles Doucet, an Acadian. In the early 1900s, the 200 acres were passed on to the Irish-Scottish Hennessy family. Now, the house is used for cultural programming, such as theatre, artist residencies and exhibits.
The first phase of the house's restoration is already completed, said Jarratt, but Phase 2 will require some monetary support.
The main focus in the past was structural repairs and the exterior, she said, while the second phase is focused more on the inside.
Jarratt said winning the $50,000 prize money would allow the group to access different funding streams to help complete the project. She said for most heritage grants, groups need to be able to contribute a small portion of the money to get the money.
Even a 10 per cent contribution can add up, she said.
"When you've got a $500,000 project, what's 10 per cent? It's 50,000 bucks," said Jarratt.
"And it's hard to raise money in Bathurst, and it's hard to raise money in an economically challenged community that's facing many difficulties of its own."
Public voting started on Monday and goes until April 17 when the winners are chosen. Along with the grand prize, there are two runner-up prizes of $10,000 and $5,000.
The finalists include three in Newfoundland and Labrador, one in Alberta, two in British Columbia, one in Manitoba, one in Nova Scotia, two in Ontario and one in Saskatchewan. The Bathurst project is the only New Brunswick finalist.
Phase two of the Doucet Hennessy House project has involved gutting the first floor, which has revealed some 200-year-old ceiling beams, said Jarratt.
New wiring and plumbing, new entryways to the rooms, insulation and a wheelchair accessible bathroom still have to be completed. Part of this phase also includes making the house energy efficient, including adding solar energy.
"This will open up doors for us that we've been pushing and kicking … to try to get into those funding structures," said Jarratt.