Spread over 10 city blocks in the north end of Halifax, not far from the narrowest part of the city’s massive harbour, the Hydrostone beckons to travellers who appreciate history, architecture and fine food.
“It’s a very vibrant part of the city,” says Peter Henry, an architect who lives a few blocks from the neighbourhood. “When you look around, it has stood up pretty well.”
Designated a national historic district, the Hydrostone remains the most tangible legacy of the single worst disaster in Canadian history — the Halifax Explosion of Dec. 6, 1917.
The massive blast, caused by the collision of a Belgian relief ship and a French munitions vessel, killed almost 2,000 people, injured 9,000 and destroyed 1,600 buildings, most of them working-class homes.
It was the most powerful manmade blast before the atom bomb. Windows were broken as far away as Truro, about 100 kilometres away.
With more than 6,000 people left homeless, the Halifax Relief Commission moved quickly to build Canada’s first public housing project.
The commission hired Thomas Adams, a town planner originally from Britain who drew his main influences from the Garden City movement in England.
Adams’s plan called for the creation of a neighbourhood unlike any other in Halifax — or in Nova Scotia, for that matter.
Construction started in 1918 and was mostly completed only 10 months later, an incredible logistical feat spurred by the need to provide better shelter to families forced to live in tents through the winter.
Bordered by Duffus Street to the north, Young Street to the south, Isleville Street to the west and Novalea Drive to the east, the Hydrostone includes 324 dwellings — mostly row houses, some duplexes and a few detached homes — designed by architect George Ross of of Ross & MacDonald Architects in Montreal.
All of the homes are made from tough, fireproof concrete blocks meant to look like cut granite — a welcome feature for tenants who had seen so many wood-frame homes collapse in the explosion onto coal stoves and burn to the ground.
“If you had just watched you family die in a wood-frame house, you’d want something that gave you a sense of additional security,” says Henry.
Hydrostone is the name given to the patented process used by a U.S. company to make the the double-T-shaped concrete blocks. Crushed granite and a cement mixture were pressed into the face of each block using hydraulic pressure.
The neighbourhood, less than one kilometre long, is also notable for its short, parallel, one-way streets and back lanes, where utility poles and other unsightly city trappings are kept out of sight.
But the neighbourhood’s most distinctive feature — aside from the dwellings themselves — is the wide, grassy boulevards in front of each straight row of homes, where neighbours have been known to gather for yard sales, Frisbee tossing, dog-walking and the occasional nap.
“It’s truly amazing that we don’t see more of this,” says Henry. “It’s part of what makes the Hydrostone so precious.”
When the project was completed, there was grumbling from wealthy residents in Halifax’s south end. Some complained the development was too fancy for its working-class tenants.
“Ask any architect who does public housing — the problem with making something that looks quite handsome is deeply troubling to the administrators,” says Henry. “They don’t actually want it to be nice.”
All of the homes remained rental units until they were sold off by the commission in the 1950s.
Today, the Hydrostone is considered one the more attractive and desirable parts of Halifax in which to live.
“It’s a pattern that has stood the test of time quite beautifully,” says Henry, noting that none of the buildings has been demolished in almost 100 years, even though many have had to be clad in vinyl siding to deal with persistent leaks.
“It’s a very intact neighbourhood,” he says. “Lots of people live here, but they don’t get in each others way.”
A renovated, 120-square-metre, three-bedroom row house in the Hydrostone can sell for about $275,000, but smaller units can he bought for less.
Henry says that even though the neighbourhood stands as an example of top-notch planning, it remains an unusual urban outpost because current municipal policies generally favour car-centric urban sprawl over people-friendly green spaces.
An eight-minute drive from downtown, the southern end of the neighbourhood is anchored by a European-style market that was restored to its original grandeur in 1993.
The market’s main floor includes four of the best restaurants in town, a bakery, a jewelry store, an antique shop, a spa, a gardening store, a yarn shop and an art gallery that features the work of Nova Scotia artisans.
Martha Suhr, a Hydrostone resident for the past eight years, says the neighbourhood has a cosy, secure feeling that appeals to families.
“The kids are always playing on the boulevard,” says Suhr, who works nearby at the Henhouse, a custom furniture and antiques store within the market. “There’s a nice community spirit ... I love the area.”
Typically, more than 200 children show up at the door every Halloween, she said, noting that the narrow streets force cars to slow down.
Suhr, who moved from Connecticut to Nova Scotia in 1972, says her two-bedroom end unit needed work when she moved in, and the renovations are ongoing. Still, despite its small size, there’s no wasted space in her home.
“They’re just a nice, comfortable size,” she says. “It has a nice, comfy feel.”
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On the web:
http://www.hydrostonemarket.ca
http://www.halifax.ca/visitors
