Famous Maritimes home gets facelift

One of the most famous homes in the Maritimes — the Thinkers' Lodge in Pugwash, N.S. — has been restored.

The lodge put the region on the world map in 1957, when Cyrus Eaton hosted a conference to talk about abolishing nuclear weapons at the height of the Cold War.

Twenty-two scientists from 10 different countries gathered at the home in the small village, marking the beginning of the Pugwash movement, which earned a Nobel Peace Prize in 1995.

John Eaton, Cyrus Eaton's grandson, who chairs the organization that maintains the property, hopes the new roof and foundation will allow the spirit of the Pugwash Conference to continue.

"My grandfather was always an independent thinker and it's not an accident this place is called Thinkers' Lodge," he said.

"He spent a lot of time trying to understand what the major problems of the world were, and he had a deep conviction that we should do something about it and he vowed that he was going to do what he could do to make a difference."

The lodge will continue to host conferences, seminars and community events, Eaton said.

The restoration was funded by the federal government and the province of Nova Scotia.

The Department of Economic and Rural Development made a $500,000 grant in support of restoring the lodge, while the Atlantic Canada Opportunities Agency (ACOA) spent $250,000 on the project. The Municipality of the County of Cumberland also contributed $50,000 to the restoration.

The lodge’s six chimneys have been rebuilt from the roof up; the roof has been re-shingled with western cedar and asphalt shingles; and remedial foundation work was done. The decks have been replaced and repairs have been made to the dormer windows

Thinkers' Lodge was designated a National Historic Site in 2008.