Who Are We?

We are a group of Heritage Angels who are passionate about saving the Maison Doucet Hennessy House in Bathurst, New Brunswick, Canada.

What Do We Want To Do?

We want to restore, renovate and preserve this heritage building and turn it into creative cultural space for artists who can be inspired by its amazing history. For 200 years this house has stood as a sentinel on top of St. Peter Avenue in the northern New Brunswick city of Bathurst. The house has a compelling history that speaks to the pioneering Acadian, Irish and Scottish settlers who built this uniquely bilingual province.

We believe it is important to save the Maison Doucet Hennessy House because there are no other heritage buildings quite like it in northern New Brunswick. We believe there is room on the cultural landscape for this heritage building and we are very afraid that it will be destroyed if we do not act together now.

Become A Heritage Angel

When you contribute to the Doucet Hennessy House, you become a Heritage Angel. You help preserve one of the most historically significant houses in northern New Brunswick by making a personal investment in our shared past and future.

You help save one of the most visible landmarks on northern New Brunswick's landscape while contributing to a growing movement to reutilize heritage buildings instead of tearing them down and erecting modern architectural monstrosities in their stead.

What We Need

We need your help to raise $70,000.  Below is a list of our expenses:

• $45,000.00 Mortgage on Building
  
• $10,000.00 Business Plan
  
• $7,500.00 Annual Fees and Expenses: Property Taxes, Insurance, Heat, Electricity, Water, Snow Removal, Propery Maintenance, Building maintenance
  
• $2,500.00 Association Share of Cost of Translating Historical Research Report by Acadian historian Fidèle Thériault
  
• $1,250.00 Association Share of Cost of Historical Research report by Fidèle Thériault
  
• $3,750.00 Other Fees and Expenses
  

What You Get

Every donation, no matter how small will be recognized on our donor page on our website as well as a donor wall to be erected inside the Maison Doucet Hennessy House. Plus, you'll have the knowledge that you've contributed to a great cause. 

$10

When you donate $10 we'll send you an email thank you card with one of our two beautiful heritage scenes. One shows the Doucet Hennessy House as it looked in 1845 on the original archival map of St. Peters Village (above). The other card is a reproduction of an original painting by artist Marilyn Manuel (below) and shows the house as it might have looked at the turn of the century with its abundant rose and flower gardens. Plus, you will be recognized on our donor wall and have the satisfaction of knowing you've contributed to a great cause. (500 available)

$25

Donations of $25 will receive an actual, personally signed thank you card by regular mail with one of our two beautiful heritage scenes. One shows the Doucet Hennessy House as it looked in 1845 on the original archival map of St. Peters Village (above). The other card is a reproduction of a gorgeous painting by artist Marilyn Manuel (above) and shows the house as it might have looked at the turn of the century with abundant roses and flower gardens. Plus, you will be recognized on our donor wall and have the satisfaction of knowing you've contributed to a great cause. (500 available)

$50

Donations of $50 will receive a personally signed thank you card and an original 5 X 7 glossy photo of the Doucet Hennessy House in winter that is suitable for framing. Plus, you will be recognized on our donor wall and have the satisfaction of knowing you've contributed to a great cause.  (100 available)

$75

Donations of $75 will receive a one hour card reading, your choice of tarot or cards, or crystal reading. Plus, you will be recognized on our donor wall and have the satisfaction of knowing you've contributed to a great cause.  Available in Bathurst only.

$100

Donations of $100 will receive a personally signed thank you card and the Maison Doucet Hennessy House Recipe book (6 available) or the book Enracinee commes Arbres, by the late Priscille Frenette Doucet. Plus, you will be recognized on our donor wall and have the satisfaction of knowing you've contributed to a great cause. (50 available).

$150

Donations of $150 will receive a thank you card, a Doucet Hennessy T-shirt and / or  a Doucet Hennessy mug. 

Mugs 16 available

T-Shirts
XL - 1 available

Large - 5 available

Medium - 13 available

$250

For donations of $250, we'll bring you on an exciting personal guided tour of the Doucet Hennessy House and the Holy Family Cemetery across the street. Plus, you will be recognized on our donor wall and have the satisfaction of knowing you've contributed to a great cause. The Holy Family Cemetery was established in 1793! Available in Bathurst only and best done during the summer months. Here's a video of the cemetery taken in 2012.

$500

For donations of $500, you can spend two nights in the Doucet Hennessy House in the summer season. It's not fancy but if you're looking for a place to stay while passing through Bathurst, you can have a comfortable pillow to rest your head on and interesting neighbours to talk to in the morning! Plus, you will be recognized on our donor wall and have the satisfaction of knowing you've contributed to a great cause. Maximum three persons using 1 double bed and 1 single bed. Weekends begin on Friday June 20 and run through to August 2014. (10 available  - Available in Bathurst only)

$1000

For donations of $1000, our Family History Researcher will spend at least 10 hours researching your family history and go back as far as she can using various resources at her disposal. She'll provide you with a document in Microsoft Word that you can add photos to and print up for your own family members. Please note that many French, English, Scottish and Irish birth, death and marriage certificates are not available for free on line and their purchase is not part of this offer. Our researcher can identify them for you however, should you wish to purchase these documents from the archives. Plus, you will be recognized on our donor wall and have the satisfaction of knowing you've contributed to a great cause. (10 available)

$2000

For donations of $2000, our Family History Researcher will spend at least 20 hours researching your family history and go back as far as she can using various resources at her disposal. She'll provide you with a document in Microsoft Word that you can add photos to and print up for your own family members. Please note that many French, English, Scottish and Irish birth, death and marriage certificates are not available for free on line and their purchase is not part of this offer. Our researcher can identify them for you however, should you wish to purchase these documents from the archives. Plus, you will be recognized on our donor wall and have the satisfaction of knowing you've contributed to a great cause. (10 available)

What Happens If We Don't Reach Our Goal?

We have chosen flexible funding because even if we don't raise the full $70,000 we can still use the money to pay our bills and to keep the momentum going by focussing on the development of a business plan.

• First and foremost, we have to pay our share (1/4 of $5,000 or $1,250) that we owe to the historian who wrote our historical research report on the Doucet Hennessy House.
• Second, we will pay our share (1/4 of $10,000 or $2,500) of the cost of translating the historical research report. Interestingly the essay is in French but all the supporting archival documents from the 18th and 19th century are in English, which was the language in which the government conducted its business, so different parts of the report have to be translated into both English and French! Only in Canada!
• Third, depending how much we have raised, we will use some of the money towards a scaled down business plan.
• Fourth, and again depending how much we have raised, we will use some of the money toward the annual upkeep of the house, taxes, insurance etc.
• Last but not least, we will put some of the money towards the $45,000 we owe on the mortgage.

The IMPACT

Unlike a lot of charitable associations that own property, we did not get this heritage building for $1 from a municipality or provincial government. We had to take out a mortgage of $50,000 and after two years we have paid $5,000.00, leaving a balance of $45,000.00. We also don't get a reprieve on municipal or provincial property tax. We have to pay property taxes to the City of Bathurst and the Province of New Brunswick.

That may not seem like a lot, but times are tough in Bathurst. The mill and the mines that once employed hundreds with good paying jobs are closed down forever. Those jobs are not coming back. Fundraising is difficult to say the least. As a result, we are spending all our time fundraising just to pay the mortgage, keep the lights on, pay the taxes and insurance when what we should be doing is focusing on a business plan and applying for funding to restore and renovate the house.

Your donation will allow us to start with a clean slate and help us to focus our energies on the very complicated process of getting a business plan and applying for funding to renovate, restore and preserve this heritage building.

The Maison Doucet Hennessy House has stood like a sentinel at the top of St. Peter Avenue for nearly two centuries since it was built ca. 1808 by the pioneering Acadian Charles Doucet. The Acadian, Irish and Scottish families who were born, lived, worked and died in this heritage home bear witness to the historic economic, social and cultural forces that transformed what was once a tiny outpost called Nepisiguit, in the wilderness of northern New Brunswick, into a multicultural city with proud Francophone and Anglophone roots

Many worthy ideas have been suggested for the building, but we are favouring the development of creative cultural space / incubater for artists / entrepreneurs in a one-of-a-kind restored heritage building. The concept of charity / art / heritage / entrepreneurship is based on the Aberdeen Cultural Center in Moncton, New Brunswick and the highly successful Charlotte Street Arts Centre in Fredericton, NB, which has 100% occupancy and a waiting list of artists seeking space in the building.

We believe this project presents a number of excellent opportunities for tourism, heritage and economic development in  northern New Brunswick.  The time is right to position its development within the framework of the upcoming Acadian Congress in 2014 and 2019, the 225th anniversary of Mr. Doucet's application for a land grant in 2015 and the commemorations marking the 150th anniversary of Canadian confederation in 2017.

Other Ways to Help

Even if you can't make a donation, be a HERITAGE ANGEL by getting out our message to the world:

• Share our story on Facebook and the web!
• Visit the Maison Doucet Hennessy House Facebook page and show us your support!
  
• Send our link igg.me/at/doucethennessy to your friends and family and ask them to help!
• Talk about our Indiegogo Fundraiser to everyone you know who is interested in heritage and encourage them to donate!
• Contact the mainstream and alternative media to tell them what a great story this would make in your local newspaper, on the radio or television!
• Be positive!