House and home: Scottish domestic architecture in Nova Scotia and the Rev. Norman McLeod Homestead

Abstract

This thesis is a study of the vernacular architecture and material culture of early nineteenth-century Scottish immigrants to Nova Scotia through the excavation and analysis of an early domestic site in Cape Breton. The built environment of the Norman McLeod homestead is interpreted from a social and political standpoint to demonstrate the position the house occupied in relation to the rest of the site and the community in general. The physical manifestation of the house is interpreted through the excavation of architectural remains and spatial patterning of artifacts, and shows that the McLeod house was likely an early Cape Breton example of a style adapted from the New England states.