10231 Highway 1: The Albert E. Gates House

Architecture Style: Vernacular

Built: 1945

In December 1800, John Starratt sold his son William 200 acres of good farmland, bordering the lands of  Isaac Marshall, fellow Planter.  William, the oldest son, had a new wife – Susannah, daughter of Jonathan and Sarah [Dodge] Leonard.  But she died at 20, perhaps giving birth to her son William.  The young widower married Susannah Betts in 1805, and they too had a son, George Edward. Then, in 1807, when little George was just 5 months old, William Sr. and his brother George were killed in a cave-in at the family mill. When Susannah married Timothy Sanders, she and the little boys left Paradise, with its traumatic memories, behind. But here in the village, Grandmother Sarah remembered William Jr. in her will, mourning her lost daughter. The families stayed in touch.

The old foundation of William and Susan’s house may sit under the home next door at 10239, as it was all one farm, which James Lynam purchased in 1817. James was married to Hannah Starratt, sister of the ill-fated William. In 1844, Capt. Thomas Freeman purchased the farm, and it was “the Freeman farm’ until 1959.  This house lot was severed, perhaps for Tom and Ida Elliott; Tom ran the Elm House Hotel in Lawrencetown and was a chef. Late in the summer of 1940, the Elliotts were away. Some men of the village were working at the apple warehouses along the tracks, by the train station. A train went by, and a spark caught on the roof of the Elliott’s home. The men rushed over to help, and saved what furniture they could. But the gracious old home burned to the ground. We appreciate our fire departments today!

Albert and Alice Gates built this newer home after the war. Albert was a master boat-builder. His industry, Scotia Boat and Fly, employed several people. Albert built beautiful inlaid mahogany boats and “real” canoes. An expert designer of trout and salmon flies, he was a sought-after fishing guide. Alice [Wilson] was a favourite of village children, while George, Mary Ellen, Albert and Ricky kept the house full of life and activity.

Bob and Rose Piggott lived here and ran an upholstery business in the old Scotia Boat and Fly Building, which became the Paradise Country Store under two different owners. 

Since 1998 it has functioned as a family home.