Place Description
37-39 St. Peters Road is a wood framed double tenement located in the former area of St. Avard's. The home originally belonged to the Love family who operated their tannery near the property. The designation includes the building's exterior and parcel; it does not include the building's interior.
Why is this place important?
The heritage value of 37-39 St. Peters Road lies in its association with the Love Family and its role in supporting the St. Peters Road streetscape.
The Love Family, who operated a tannery adjacent to 37-39 St. Peters Road, built the double tenement in 1886. Originally, the Love Tannery was located on the corner of Queen and Kent Streets in Charlottetown on the site of the current City Hall building. E.B. Love is listed as a tanner and currier on Upper Queen Street as early as 1863. The family sold the tannery property to the City of Charlottetown to make way for the construction of City Hall.
According to the 21 July 1886 edition of the Daily Examiner, the Messrs. Love and Sons were using the plans of prominent local architects, Phillips and Chappell, to construct a new double tenement on the St. Peters Road. The Love Family appears at this location in the 1922-1935 Telephone Directories for Prince Edward Island. The home housed the Love Family for many years. It now houses offices and a youth centre.
St. Peters Road is one of the oldest roads on Prince Edward Island, originating during the French Regime of the 18th Century. The area along the St. Peters Road where the Love House is located was once known as St. Avard's. A former Premier of Prince Edward Island and successful shipbuilder, James Colledge Pope (1826-1885), once owned the property on which a pre-1845 home, named St. Avard's stood. Pope subdivided the area in the 1870s. This house at 37-39 St. Peters Road is the only building left of the early development that took place in the area. An attractive historic building and a fine example of a well preserved double tenement in the City, it contributes to the St. Peters Road streetscape.
Sources: Heritage Office, City of Charlottetown Planning Department, PO Box 98, Charlottetown, PE C1A 7K2
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Special Characteristics
The following character-defining elements illustrate the heritage value of 37-39 St. Peters Road:
- The wooden construction of the building and the wood shingle siding
- The style and symmetrical placement of the windows, including the twin bay windows of the first floor and the paired windows of the third floor
- The style and placement of the doors particularly the central placement of the front doors, with their transom lights and wooden storm doors
- The steep pitch of the gable roof
- The centrally placed large dormer with gable roof
- The style and placement of the chimneys
- The verandah with its ornate scroll work and simple balustrade
Other character-defining elements of 37-39 St. Peters Road include:
- The location of the building on the St. Peters Road
