Introducing Uniacke Estate Museum Park
	Richard John Uniacke wanted his country property "Mount Uniacke" to be a working farm like the country properties or estates he knew in Ireland where he grew up. He built a large house, a main barn, a coach house, a grain barn, a guest house, a wash house, baths, a privy, a hot house, caretaker's house, and an ice house. Most of the land wasn't suitable for farming but he had some sheep, cows, and horses as well as fields of turnips and potatoes. Interested in the latest agricultural methods, he spent his last years as a country gentleman improving his land and growing exotic plants in his hothouse. He also planted oak trees here and there from acorns brought from Ireland. The Mount was a place for Richard John Uniacke to show off his wealth and to entertain friends and other important people. He chose this location for its natural setting and its place on the road between Halifax and Windsor. From the house and from the road, one can see a lake and a hill going off in the distance. These views were necessary for the kind of "look" that Richard John Uniacke wanted. We now call this look the "English Landscape Garden" style. It started in England and was very popular during the 1700s.

	Vistas, or views stretching off into the distance, were much admired, especially if there were some sheep on a hill in the distance. Mr. Uniacke was able to get this look by putting his sheep out to graze on the drumlin hill. But he also wanted to keep them away from the open lawn around the elegant house. A fence would have cut across the pretty view and spoiled it, so instead there was an invisible fence called a haha.

	When Richard John Uniacke died in 1830, the family did not carry on with the working farm. Several generations used the property mostly as a weekend and summer place. In 1949 they sold it to the Province of Nova Scotia. It is now a part of the Nova Scotia Museum. The house, barn, coach house, and some parts of the hot house and haha have survived from 1830. The house contains the furnishings that Richard John bought in England. His sons made a complete inventory of their father's possessions when he died, so we know what was in the estate at that time, room by room, building by building. Visit this grand country house from June 1 to October 15. A tea room in the basement kitchen is open everyday from early June to Labour Day, and on weekends in September and October. At anytime of year you can visit the property and walk the 6 trails that were created in 1995.

The Uniacke Estate | Richard John Uniacke | Creating an Estate | Natural Setting
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