Description of Historic Place

86 Fitzroy Street is a wood framed, front gable building with Queen Anne Revival influences built in approximately 1900. Originally used as a home, the building now houses offices. It is situated next door to a very similar, more ornate building built around the same time. The designation encompasses the building’s exterior and parcel; it does not include the building’s interior.

Heritage Value

The heritage value of 86 Fitzroy Street lies in its association with various Charlottetown residents; its Queen Anne Revival style architecture; and its role in supporting the Fitzroy Street streetscape.

Horace MacEwen built 86 Fitzroy Street in 1900. MacEwen was a train dispatcher when he built the home, but would eventually become Superintendent of the PEI Railway. Interestingly, another railway man built a very similar but more ornate home next door at 84 Fitzroy Street. It is unclear whether 86 Fitzroy Street lost its details or 84 Fitzroy Street had added details later, but they are both fine examples of front gable homes from 1900.

Later residents of 86 Fitzroy Street include Mrs. L. R. Unsworth who boarded Eleanor Unsworth, a clerk for the Prince Edward Island Telephone Company. It is unclear if they were related. According to local city directories, Alfred E. Dewer and later, C.H. Beers, a jeweler for the company W.W. Wellner, were occupants of the home. 86 Fitzroy Street was eventually renovated and currently serves as a dentist’s office. A well preserved example of a form of the Queen Anne Revival style in the City, the building is also evocative of the days of the railway in PEI and the homes of those associated with it. The combination of this architecture and history makes 86 Fitzroy Street important in supporting the Fitzroy Street streetscape.

86 Fitzroy Street was influenced by the Queen Anne Revival style, a style that was somewhat subdued in Charlottetown compared to other provinces. The Queen Anne Revival style was popular in Charlottetown from approximately 1880 until 1910. Richard N. Shaw (1831-1912), a British architect, created the style that incorporated some of the classical motifs popular during Queen Anne's reign (1702-1714). Features of the style include, very large asymmetrical designs, a variety of rooflines, bay windows and large porches, all of which have been incorporated into the design of 86 Fitzroy Street.

Sources: Heritage Office, City of Charlottetown Planning Department, PO Box 98, Charlottetown, PE C1A 7K2
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Character-Defining Elements

The following Queen Anne Revival influenced character-defining elements illustrate the heritage value of 86 Fitzroy Street:
- The wood frame and cladding with simple mouldings and trim throughout the building’s exterior
- The front gable plan
- The size and placement of the windows, including the roundel window in the front gable, the grouped windows, the bay windows and the multi-paned windows of the first and second floor porches
- The size and placement of the doors including, the off centre placement of the front door, with its transom and side lights
- The side placement of the large verandah, with its brackets, turned posts, balustrades, and spindlework decoration
- The first and second floor porches
- The steep pitch of the gable roofs with their slight overhang of the triangular portion near the peak
- The pedimented gable roof suspended above the bay projection of the facade with its simple mouldings that match the main larger gable roof next to it
- The size, shape, and location of the chimney
- The stone foundation
Other character-defining elements that illustrate the heritage value of 86 Fitzroy Street include:
- The shed dormers
- The location of the home on Fitzroy Street next to the very similarly styled house at 84 Fitzroy Street