Historic Rothesay home demolished

A house with historical significance in Rothesay has been torn down.

Turnbull House was home to Wallace Rupert Turnbull, a member of Canada's Aviation Hall of Fame.

Turnbull, who did much of his research in a converted barnin Rothesay, constructed Canada's first wind tunnel in 1902 to test his work, including his patented variable-pitch propeller.

Despite his substantial contribution to Canadian aviation, Turnbull was a modest man who shunned the spotlight.

And despite his historical significance, his former home was demolished this week with seemingly little fight or fanfare. By Wednesday afternoon, the once-stately residence was reduced to a pile ofrubble that was hauled away by the truckload.

WATCH | Drone footage shows where Rothesay's heritage zone ends:

Why an historic Rothesay home didn't have heritage protection

24 hours ago

Duration 1:20

Turnbull House, once home to Wallace Rupert Turnbull, who fine-tuned the variable-pitch propeller among other scientific breakthroughs, has been reduced to rubble.

Members of the Rothesay Living Museum and its precursor, the Rothesay Area Heritage Trust, were contacted by CBC News aboutTurnbull House, but no one responded to interview requests.

Several of the neighbours weren't even aware the house had been torn down, and all expressed sadness at the loss.

From the town's perspective, it's a pretty simple process.

"Somebody comes in and says they want to knock their house down and that's it," saidRothesay town manager John Jarvie.

The house on Almon Lane isn't in the town's heritage preservation area, so "the building is not protected in any way by the municipality," said Jarvie.

Outside that protected area, "there are no bylaws that limit an owner's ability to demolish a building that they own."

He said they've had newer buildings demolished by the owner simply because "they didn't want to have it on that site anymore."

Had it been inside the heritage preservation area, Jarvie said demolition would not have beenso easy. In that case, an owner's request to demolish a building would entail "a very explicit process, very detailed process" and a very lengthy one, he said.

Jarvie was well aware of the history of the building and its former owner.

"It's always disappointing when we lose an attractive building with some history in the community," he said. "The building was in the family for quite a number of years and sold within the last five, I think."

Michael Black and Aimee Noel, both Rothesay residents according to provincial property records, bought the property from the Turnbulls in 2021 for $605,000, when it was assessed at only $385,000.

The property is currently assessed at $628,500.

The current owner did not respond to an interview request from CBC that was made through a family member.

A picture posted online of the property a number of years ago shows it in much better days.

The portion that was still standing on Wednesday morning displayedfaded, peeling paint and old windows and insulation.

Jarvie said the "cost of maintaining or maybe restoring an older building like that can be significant."

If it had been located in the heritage preservation area and the owner did not want to fix it up or couldn't afford to Jarvie said the owner would have been required to put the property on the market to give other people "an opportunity to purchase it" and fix it.

"And so there is a mechanism for trying to protect those buildings," said Jarvie.

"The property owner in this case may very well have other plans for the land and it's the land that's of greatest interest to them."