Description of Historic Place

26-28 Dorchester Street is an attractive, wood framed, Georgian influenced, double tenement. It is a good example of middle class tenement housing of the 19th century and an important part of Dorchester Street. The designation encompasses the building’s exterior and parcel; it does not include the building’s interior.

Heritage Value

The heritage value of 26-28 Dorchester Street lies in its Georgian influenced architecture and its importance to the Dorchester Street streetscape.

This building is a good example of middle class tenement housing which was being constructed in Charlottetown by the mid-19th Century in the wake of the Great Fire of 1866. The Georgian influenced architecture is shown by the symmetrical facade of the building, its balanced proportions, and its simple gabled roof and trim details.

City Directories tell us that Captain Archibald MacDougall was living in the 26 Dorchester Street section in 1914 and his family remained there until at least 1935. The 28 Dorchester Street side was used as both a store and a residence.

The well kept and attractive home had undergone sympathetic renovations at some point in its history and it remains a double residence to this day. Very similar in style to its neighbor 20-22 Dorchester Street, it adds a great deal to the Dorchester Street streetscape.

Sources: Heritage Office, City of Charlottetown Planning Department, PO Box 98, Charlottetown, PE C1A 7K2
#1372

Character-Defining Elements

The following Georgian influenced character-defining elements illustrate the heritage value of 26-28 Dorchester Street:
- The overall rectangular massing of the building
- The placement and style of the six over six windows, including the tall windows of the first floor and the slightly shorter windows of the second floor
- The placement and style of the doors with their fanlights and transom lights
- The simple contrasting trim around the windows and doors as well as the corner boards
- The pitch of the gabled roof
- The style and placement of the chimneys

Other character-defining elements include:
- The location of the home on Dorchester Street