Place Description
15 Grafton Street is a wood framed Romanesque Revival style influenced former home located on the corner of Grafton Street and Rochford Street, in an area with a variety of heritage homes designed by talented architect, William Critchlow Harris (1854-1913). It features his characteristic snub or clipped gable roof with decorative bargeboard drilled with holes. The designation encompasses the building's exterior and parcel; it does not include the building's interior.
Why is this place important?
The home at 15 Grafton Street was built for Roland M. Moore in approximately 1895. Designed by architect, William Critchlow Harris, it displays features found in a number of his later works including the snub gable, the bargeboard with decorative small drilled holes and an overall squat appearance.
His design exhibits the influence of the Romanesque Revival style, which was popular in Charlottetown from the 1870s until the 1900s. In this style, the emphasis is on the width of a building rather than its height. Features of the style include a snub gable, various shingle patterns, decorative woodwork and the round-headed arch. These features are evident in the design of 15 Grafton Street. An attractive home located among a variety of Harris designed homes; it is an asset to the streetscape.
Harris was not the only prominent architect associated with 15 Grafton Street. The Scottish born architect, John Marshall Hunter, made it his residence for a number of years. Hunter apprenticed in his native Scotland with David Woodburn Sturrock before going on to work with the firm of Clarke & Bell & J. H. Craigie. He later left Scotland to work in the architects' department of the Canadian Pacific Railway in Montreal before coming to Prince Edward Island to work on the reconstruction of St. Dunstan's Basilica that had sufferred a fire in 1913. After working for five years reinforcing the remains of the exterior and completely redesigning the interior, Hunter decided to remain in Charlottetown. He entered into a partnership with architect, Charles B. Chappell and the two would design a number of impressive homes and commercial buildings in Charlottetown and throughout the Maritime Provinces. Many of their buildings stand to this day including: Charlottetown City Hall, the former Prince Edward Island Hospital and the Reddin Houses on Brighton Road.
Sources: Heritage Office, City of Charlottetown Planning Department, PO Box 98, Charlottetown, PE C1A 7K2
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Special Characteristics
The following Romanesque Revival character-defining elements contribute to the heritage value of 15 Grafton Street:
- The overall massing of the building with its two storeys
- The snub gable roof and the gable roof of the east side of the home
- The mouldings painted in a contrasting colour, including the window and door surrounds, the bargeboard with small drilled holes and the stringcourses
- The wood cladding with contrasting decorative shingles near the apex of the gables
- The size and placement of the windows, including the grouped windows, the bay window of the east side and the bay window of the south side with decorative fanlight transoms and conical roof
- The size and placement of the door with sidelights under an arch
Other character-defining elements of 15 Grafton Street include:
- The size and placement of the chimney
- The location of the building on the corner of Grafton Street and Rochford Street and its physical and visual relationship to its streetscape
