HASKELL OPERA HOUSE

The Haskell Free Library and Opera House is a Victorian-era opera house that straddles the Canada-United States border in Derby Line, Vermont and Stanstead, Quebec. The 400-seat theater occupies the second and third floors of the building, with the stage located in Canada and most of the audience seating in the United States. It is sometimes called the only opera house in the U.S. with no stage, since the performance area is technically on the Canadian side.

The opera house hosts community theater productions, concerts, lectures, and film screenings throughout the year. A black line on the floor beneath the seats marks the international boundary, making every visit a cross-border experience. The interior features painted scenes of Venice on the drop curtain by Erwin Lamoss (1901) and ornate plaster scrollwork with cherubs adorning the balcony.

The building was a gift from Martha Stewart Haskell and her son Horace Stewart Haskell, built in memory of their family. Construction began in 1901, and the opera house opened on June 7, 1904. Designed by architect James Ball in the Queen Anne Revival style with granite from Stanstead, it has been on the U.S. National Register of Historic Places since 1976 and designated a Canadian National Historic Site in 1985.