Paradise School

The Paradise School is valued as an impressive example of the Second Empire style in Paradise, NS.

Ernest and Charles Balcom, brothers, built this structure in 1894. The two-storey wooden building originally accommodated eighty to one hundred and five students, grades Primary through Twelve. The unique building conveys a dramatic presence and exhibits a classical setting, located some distance from the main road, adjacent to its semi-circular driveway. The Paradise School closed in 1979. The Paradise Women’s Institute took over ownership of the building and later the structure was to house a nursery school.

From the concave mansard roof down to the large double hung windows on the main storey and entrance door at the front right corner, the front elevation of this building conveys a stately appearance. Segmented dormers on the second storey each have paired round-headed windows. The tall, narrow French-style main storey windows have flat hoods. An unusual ornamental element is the decorative shingling halfway up the façade. There is a two-storey shed roof addition in the rear. The structure sits on a brick foundation.

The building is a valued testament to the integrity of the builders’ craftsmanship and to the community’s commitment to heritage preservation through the creative practice of adaptive reuse of the property.