Mount Uniacke, Nova Scotia
Creating the Estate
Richard John Uniacke wanted his country property to be a working farm like the country 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, a caretaker's house, and an ice house.
The family spent summers at Mount Uniacke as early as the 1790s, probably staying in the farmhouse on the original land grant. Construction of the new house and out-buildings began in 1813. The main construction seems to have been completed by 1816. Although he maintained his house in Halifax, it appears that after 1815 Uniacke lived at the Mount in semi-retirement until his death.
Most of the buildings were clustered around the door yard and the adjacent horse yard. The hothouse stood in the orchard, and the boathouse was placed at the end of an allée of trees that extended from the door yard to the lake. The portico of the house overlooked the road from Halifax, Lake Martha, Norman Lake, the far fields, and in the foreground, the front garden.“The Mount” was intended to be a working farm. Mr. Uniacke devoted himself to clearing and improving woodlands and wetlands, experimenting with composting materials and methods, and growing a variety of agricultural and horticultural crops. He also kept horses, cattle, sheep, pigs, and poultry.
 |
 |
|
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 acorns he brought from Ireland. Today, visitors can see some of the oak trees that grew from those seeds.
The fields and pastures were set out to provide good views of the house from the Windsor Road, and to provide pleasing views from the house and other important places in the landscape.
The fields and pastures were probably fenced. As the land was improved, however, some quickset hedges were planted and the roads and open fields were often edged with dry-stone walls and lined with trees. Trees were also used to form gateways, and clumps of trees were planted in the fields in a picturesque manner. The brook was improved with stone walls and willow plantings.
 |
 |
|
Stone walls in what is now woods are evidence that many of the 100 acres cleared for Mr. Uniacke have since grown over. His efforts to create a self-supporting estate were not successful due to the unsuitability of the land for farming.
The Mount was a place for Richard John Uniacke to show 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. Seen from the house and from the road, a lake and a hill rise in the distance. These views were necessary for the look that Richard John Uniacke wanted. We now call this the English landscape garden style, which was very popular during the 1700s. Vistas, or views stretching off into the distance, were much admired, especially if there were sheep on a hill in the distance. Mr. Uniacke put his sheep out to graze on the drumlin hill. But he 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, he wanted a barrier wall, called a haha.
Putting the Property Together
Richard John Uniacke’s estate once totalled 11,340 acres or about 4590 hectares. He purchased some of the land, and some was granted to him by the colonial government over thirty years.- 1786: The original 1,000 acres grant at Mount Uniacke included a farmhouse and frontage on what Uniacke called Lake Martha, but it did not include the site where the house, barn, and other outbuildings would eventually be built.
- 1787 2,700 more acres acquired in four transactions.
- 1796 500 acres acquired
- 1813 A 400-acre property and several parcels of land totaling 2,540 acres were bought from the estate of Charles Morris, who had been Surveyor General. One of the parcels would be the site of the grand house. Building began that year.
- 1815 200-acre parcel was the last land purchase for the estate.
- 1819 Uniacke received an additional 4,000-acre land grant.
| In Uniacke’s time, the Post Road between Halifax and Windsor was the only highway in Nova Scotia. Anyone travelling it would have to pass Uniacke’s grand estate. Today, sections of the Post Road form part of a walking trail at Uniacke Estate Museum Park. Not far from the pathway, the marker for Mile 27 still stands, the numbers cut into a large granite stone marking the distance from Halifax. |  |
Creating the Estate The English Garden Natural Setting