Inns for Sale — 69 Fox Street, Lunenburg, Nova Scotia

Little Lunenburg is a perfectly picturesque port town on the southeast coast of Nova Scotia.  Founded in 1753, Lunenburg’s tight grid of streets cascades down a sunny south-facing slope to the waterfront, where locals have long worked in fishing, shipbuilding, and even Prohibition-era rum-running. The shop- and restaurant-jammed Old Town is a UNESCO World Heritage site, with some 70 percent of its original 18th- and 19th-century Colonial architecture still intact and painted in charming, vivid hues—including this former tavern for sale. It currently functions as a bed and breakfast just a few blocks from the ocean. 

Built in 1791, the Lennox Inn touts itself as the oldest British-Colonial inn in Canada. The current owner has restored the property to its 19th-century heyday. A transom window above the front door spills light onto the wide pine floors of the main entry hall. At left, what was once a dry goods shop is now a living room with exposed wood beams and a fireplace. 

At right, the old tap room (now a large dining room) has mustard-yellow wainscoting beneath the chair rail, a wood stove tucked into the ancient brick hearth, and eye-catching stenciled wood floors. A bar in back opens up to the rustic kitchen beyond, but can be closed off to guests (or family—“Last call for pancakes, kids!”) by pulling down a slatted wood shutter. 

Across from the kitchen is a large blue and gold bedroom with an en suite bath and fireplace. Up the admittedly narrow staircase—with its risers painted a British red—the second floor has four huge bedrooms (two are en suite, two share a bath) with four-poster beds, fireplaces, and original wood paneled and lime plaster walls.  

As big as the house is—the largest Georgian home in historic Old Town, according to the listing—there’s room to expand, either by converting two storage rooms on the top floor into bedrooms, or reclaiming the long-ago kitchen in the basement (which holds the remains of a beehive brick oven and 18th-century cooking hearth). 

Are you on the house hunt, or just the type of person who loves browsing real estate listings, even when you’re not in the market for a new home? Property Crush is a column where we feature actual real estate listings that get the Apartment Therapy seal of approval in regards to style (we haven’t done home inspections or anything, so don’t sue us). Know of a great house on the market? Email the listing to repitches@apartmenttherapy.com.