About Maud Lewis Replica House
A full-scale handmade replica of folk artist Maud Lewis's famous painted house, built by family friend Murray Ross in Rossway on the Digby Neck. Open daily, free-will offering.
Features & Highlights
Detailed Information
Maud Lewis Replica House: A Handmade Tribute on the Digby Neck
Nova Scotia's most beloved folk artist, Maud Lewis, lived and painted in a tiny one-room house in Marshalltown, near Digby, that is now preserved inside the Art Gallery of Nova Scotia in Halifax. But on the Digby Neck, in the hamlet of Rossway, a second Maud Lewis house stands beside an ordinary home: a full-scale replica built by Murray Ross, whose family knew Maud and her husband Everett personally. Ross spent about a year researching the original house before building his tribute, and the effort shows - copies of Maud's paintings and framed photographs adorn the walls, a bed similar to Maud's sits in the corner, and a rebuilt version of Everett's shop holds firewood, scallop shells, and the stones Maud painted.
Visitors began arriving almost as soon as the replica was finished, many sharing their own stories about Maud with Ross. Today it ranks #2 of 17 Digby attractions on Tripadvisor (65 reviews), remarkable for what is one man's passion project on a side road of Highway 217. Reviewers consistently note the "detail and care of construction" and that it is "not the original house - and it doesn't claim to be," which is precisely its charm: an accessible, walk-in version of a house most people will never see in its museum setting.
Practical Information
Address: 11585 Highway 217, Rossway, Digby Neck, NS (beside the builder's home).
Hours: Open daily 9:00 am - 8:00 pm.
Cost: Free - free-will offering.
Parking: Roadside beside the house.
Pair With: The Marshalltown memorial site to Maud Lewis 6-8 km away, and the Balancing Rock trail further down the Neck. Contact Digby Area Tourism at (902) 245-2631 for current access. See the Bay of Fundy guide for routing the whole Digby Neck.
