This house was built for George Henry Wright in the Queen Anne Revival style. George was born at Wright's Cove on the Dartmouth side of Bedford Basin  in 1849.

 

The mansion was built at a cost of over $10,000. Wright was no doubt J.C. Dumaresq’s most important client, as he was hired to design over 20 buildings for him. J.C. Dumaresq & Son, drew the floor plans and elevations of George Wright's Young Avenue house on 31 October 1902.

 

Wright became a millionaire, publishing a worldwide gazette and trading directory (called Wright's World Business Directory), as well as his work as a housing developer. Wright travelled the world constantly and upon retirement returned to Halifax. He gave much to the City through philanthropy and property development. 

 

Wright had a dream of Halifax becoming a modern city and his two Barrington Street buildings, the Marble Building, and the St. Paul's Building, are still in use today. He built mansions for the wealthy on South Park Street and comfortable homes for working families in Wright Court off Morris Street.

 

Wright was a bachelor and a well-known public speaker against what he and many Victorians considered the greatest evils of their time – strong drink, prostitution, and the poverty of widows and children.  These were also among the major concerns of the women’s groups that came together in the Local Council of Women.

 

In 1912, Wright travelled to England, and booked return passage on the RMS Titanic, drowning when the luxury liner went down on April 15, 1912. While in England, Wright had revised his will the day before sailing, leaving $275,000 to Dalhousie University, the Y.M.C.A. building fund, other worthy causes, and his house on Young Avenue to the Local Council of Women. George Wright's remains were never recovered. A memorial stone was later erected by his brother in Christ Church Cemetery, Dartmouth.

 

The Wright House incorporates elements of the Queen Anne Revival style. Wright House has a two-storey column, with Ionic capitals supporting a portico, the Palladian window over the entrance and the broken pediment over the front door in the classic tradition. It also has a stucco/half timber treatment of the gable ends and corner towers with conical roofs. Another element of note is the enclosed sunroom/conservatory, which wraps around the other corner and half-timbering detail. The elaborate detailing is also continued throughout the interior of the structure.

The basement had the servants' stairs, two coal rooms for hard and soft coal, toilet near the servants' stairs, a larder, furnace room and large open area and a laundry area. The ground floor consisted of entrance and vestibule, main hall and stairwell, library, an "L"-shaped sunroom, parlour, living room with tower, dining room, kitchen, pantry, rear servants' stairs and rear entry. The second level had the main stairwell and hallway leading to three bedrooms - one of which was a tower room, two baths, dressing room, and servants' stairs to the rear. The attic had the main stairwell, and possibly a servants' bedroom, servants' stairs, and a large "L"-shaped open area probably for storage.

 

There was a nice ornamental fence surrounding the property, but most of it, unfortunately, was removed. There were assurances that it would be restored, but that was a number of years ago.

 

The George Wright home is a Provincial Heritage Building and one of Canada's Historic Places.