Henry House, National historic site in Halifax, Canada
Henry House is a two-and-a-half-story stone building in Halifax, Canada, with a gable roof and precisely cut granite blocks across its main facade. The structure displays fine craftsmanship with dressed ironstone details at the gable ends and now operates as a restaurant and pub.
Built in 1834 for John Metzler, a prosperous Halifax stonemason and landowner, the house is chiefly associated with William Alexander Henry, a Father of Confederation and co-author of the British North America Act, who lived here with his family from 1854 to 1864. In the late 19th and early 20th centuries it served as a Sailors' Home run by the Navy League of Canada. It was designated a National Historic Site in 1969.
The house is named for William Alexander Henry, a Father of Confederation and the first Nova Scotian on the Supreme Court of Canada, who lived here with his family from 1854 to 1864. From 1969 its downstairs tavern was called the Little Stone Jug, after a 19th-century Halifax pub whose name was slang for prison.
The building is located on Barrington Street and today serves as a working restaurant and pub that visitors can enter and explore. Since it operates as an active business, visiting hours follow the restaurant's schedule rather than a dedicated heritage site timetable.
The downstairs tavern opened in 1969 as the Little Stone Jug, a name taken from 19th-century Halifax slang for a prison and borrowed from an earlier pub on Brunswick Street. It was opened by Richard (Dick) Raymond and Jacques Ducau, who bought the house in 1968 and renovated it.
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