Part of Nova Scotia's architectural heritage, the home is one of the only two mansions of its type in the province.Viewpoint.ca
17 Collins St., Yarmouth, N.S.
Asking Price: $649,000
Taxes: $6,165 (2025)
Lot Size: 15,069 square feet
Agent: Jordan Langille, ViewPoint Realty
The backstory
Walking into 17 Collins St. in Yarmouth, N.S., is like stepping back in time. The home, one of the only two mansions of its type in the province, is a significant part of Nova Scotia’s architectural heritage, built in the Queen Anne Revival style and situated within Yarmouth’s Collins Heritage Conservation District.
“Yarmouth was one of the wealthiest little towns in the world at the turn of the century, with the second busiest seaport in Canada,” said Michael Tavares, who owns the house together with his husband Neil Hisgen.
“When you own these big, grand Victorian houses, that was a whole way of life. I mean, there’s a lot of ego in that. There’s a lot of art in it.”
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As a real estate developer specializing in adaptive reuse of historic buildings, Mr. Tavares is well aware of the home’s historical significance. The residence was built between 1893 and 1895 for one of Yarmouth’s more prominent citizens of the time, Charles Churchill Richards, a doctor, pharmacist and entrepreneur whose bestselling product was Minard’s Liniment, an ointment used to alleviate arthritis and bronchitis. C. C. Richards & Co. was one of Yarmouth’s leading businesses for over 25 years, allowing Mr. Richards to bring in the bricks, brownstone trimmings and granite for his new home directly from New England.
The home was acquired by the federal government in 1942 for use as a barracks for the Canadian Women’s Army Corps. In 1946, it was purchased by the town of Yarmouth and used as a public library and museum. It was “one of Canada’s first three public libraries and historical societies,” said Mr. Tavares. In 1963, it was sold and converted into a three-unit rental building.
Mr. Tavares was flying back and forth from Boston to a farm that he and three friends bought in southwest Nova Scotia during the 1980s when he met his future husband and brought him to visit his homestead. The two decided to purchase a historic house in Yarmouth with plans to restore it and run it as a bed and breakfast managed by Mr. Hisgen, a professional hotelier. They became the new owners of the old house in October, 1998, living on the third floor, and opened the rest of the home to their guests in the summer of the following year until 2009.
The rescue
Mr. Tavares said, when they bought it, the home had been vacant for almost 10 years.
“It was condemned. … The east wall was falling off and collapsing. The water had leaked through the roof for years. … All the windows [were] frozen thawed, and cracked. It was basically a shell.”
They began placing buckets around the house to catch the water leaking in. After that, they sealed up the windows and warmed up all the rooms to dry the floors and all the other wood in the house.
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It took three years to restore the house to its former glory, an effort recognized by the Nova Scotia Home Awards as Restoration of the Year in 2001 and Mechanical Award of the Year in 2003.
Mr. Tavares said he thinks the mansion had remained vacant for such a long time before they bought it because no one knew how to address the serious deterioration of its masonry, among other problems.
“It was scary for a lot of people. It was a big house. But for us, and for me especially, it was just another day at the office. I just jumped in with both feet,” he said. “If I was going to have a bed and breakfast in town, well, I wanted the best building in town.”
The home welcomes visitors through a veranda that overlooks the historic district of Yarmouth. It wraps around the front of the house and connects to the entrance of the conservatory. It has decorative wooden trim, a balustrade and it has been completely restored and painted.
The veranda connects to a vestibule and from there to the octagonal main hall. It has a 2½-storey hand-carved oak staircase, flanked by stained glass windows. The main floor is about 1,700 square feet and the couple used to invite the community to their themed parties every year for 15 years in a row.
Elaborate woodwork in the home includes oak and sycamore.Viewpoint.ca
“One of our themed parties was a New Year’s party, where you had to come as your favourite dead movie star or celebrity. So everybody came. We had 10 Audrey Hepburns,” Mr. Tavares says with a laugh.
During their first winter at their new dwelling, the couple had a Gillian Island’s-themed party.
“Our first winter that we survived – we called it a survivor’s party – we wrapped the whole front of the house in brown paper and shredded it like a hut. We did a shipwreck on the front lawn. … It was absolutely hysterical.”
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The main hall communicates with the front parlour, which has a huge bay window and then a pocket door that connects to the sitting parlour. A French glass door opens to a stained-glass conservatory that has floor-to-ceiling stained-glass windows and a skylit roof. Another door opens into the big dining room done in oak panelling. Doors lead to the kitchen and pantry.
Mr. Tavares said the kitchen combines elements from eight different salvaged kitchens.
“I took apart and collected eight different kitchens over my career, and I adapted those elements to put this kitchen together so that it looks and it belongs to the house. It’s all period 1880s, Victorian kitchen material.”
On the second floor there are four bedrooms and 3½ bathrooms. The woodwork is all in sycamore and the floors are all original from the 19th century. The third floor used to be an apartment, but it has been rebuilt with three bedrooms and two full bathrooms.
The renovated house has been used as a bed and breakfast for many years.Viewpoint.ca
The next chapter
“It’s now been completely gutted and rewired and rough plumbed for somebody to take it and do what they want with it. … The third floor is now a clear palette to put together and finish the way you’d want,” Mr. Tavares said.
Mr. Tanares said they are selling the house because they want to travel and enjoy the rest of their lives. But before that, he said he wants to “pass the torch to the right person.”
“We want the house to have a future beyond us,” he said. “It’s not just shelter. … I want someone who wants to enjoy the opulence of the house and make it their own and give it the next 20 years.”