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Charles Macdonald returned home from the west, with a head full of ideas about how to shape an ideal life. He established a concrete brick factory in what later became his home for over 40 years, and is now open as the Charles Macdonald Concrete House Museum.
His views on labour and democracy make his story one particular to his times, and of interest to us today. His philosophy resulted in improvements to the quality of lives of his workers and to the community to which he dedicated his life. His artwork, sculptures, paintings, and rugs hooked by his wife Mabel provide a record of rural life and give importance to the landscape and values of Nova Scotians in the middle part of the last century.
In the 1990's a group of individuals formed the non-profit Charles Macdonald House of Centreville Society to celebrate the life works of Charles and Mabel Macdonald. The first order of business was to purchase Macdonald's concrete house in Centreville. It is now run as a museum/gallery and is open to the public in the summers using student guides. A few years later, the society acquired the "Blue Cottage", and, like Charlie, makes the cottage available to guests for summer holidays.
Although Charlie gave away many of the things he created or painted in his lifetime, the society has had the good fortune of being the recipient of countless return donations of his works, from a community interested in protecting the legacy of Nova Scotia's "Uncommon, Common Man".