Desroches House

Appropriately, the discovery of Louisbourg begins at a fishing establishment, for catching cod was the great industry that underlay Louisbourg's grandeur. During peak season, visitors arriving by shuttle bus will be greeted at the DesRoches house and wait for departure here at the end of their visit. To see this property in focus, imagine similar fishing stations crowding Louisbourg's harbourside and every nearby cove, each with a little wharf projecting below the low tide line and its own flotilla of fishing boats returning heavy-laden from a day's work.

Around this house, the fresh catch was cleaned and salted, then laid out to dry on "flakes" and gravel beaches. The work of catching and drying employed thousands in the colony. Can you smell the salt and the cod? Remember the fishermen when you admire the most luxurious homes in the town, for cod exports paid for almost everything the colony consumed.

The building is patterned on the home of Jeanne Galbarette and furnished according to a property inventory taken in 1735. Thrice wed, Jeanne Galbarette married her last husband in 1738. She was about 69, and the groom, Georges Desroches, was 28. This house, where they lived until her death in 1754, reflects local building usage in its simple log walls and sodded roof, but details such as the overhanging eaves recall the Basque heritage of its owners.

Built in 1717, the original house served as an unlicensed tavern for Basque fishermen and sailors. In the fishing season, the householder's employees probably took their meals, perhaps also their lodgings, here.

What happens here?

• Bus service to and from the Fortress of Louisbourg National Historic Site visitor centre (peak season only)
• Costumed interpretation (peak season only)
• Interpretation theme: 18th century fishery