Description of Historic Place

13 Fitzroy Street is a wood framed two storey house built in the Victorian Plain style by local businessman and Member of Parliament, Donald Nicholson. It is situated on a treed lot close to the street. The designation encompasses the building's exterior and parcel; it does not include the building's interior.

Heritage Value

The heritage value of 13 Fitzroy Street lies in its association with the Nicholson family; its Victorian Plain influenced architecture; and its role in supporting the Fitzroy Street streetscape.

Donald Nicholson was a Member of Parliament and successful tobacco merchant. His company, Hickey and Nicholson Tobacco Co. Ltd. was located on Prince Street. The company advertised its tobacco in the local telephone directories as "the tobacco with the flavour of good old wine." A generous man, Nicholson built two gable end houses side by side on Fitzroy Street for his sons Robert H. and Edward D. in 1914 and 1915 respectively.

13 Fitzroy Street was built in 1915 for Edward D. Nicholson. Telephone directories still show Nicholson at this address twenty years later in 1935. He eventually became the manager of his father's company, whereas, his brother Robert H Nicholson, became a surveyor and engineer for the Dominion Department of Public Works.

13 Fitzroy Street is a well-preserved example of a gable end house in the Victorian Plain Style. This style appears between 1880 and 1915 in the Maritimes. It has simple lines, a steeply pitched roof accented with plain bargeboards. There are few decorative elements except for the stacked bay window topped with a cantilevered and pedimented gable roof, a balustrade above the porch and a protruding belt course of wood shingles. As an example of the Late Victorian Plain style in the City, the house contributes to the Fitzroy Street streetscape.

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

The following character-defining elements illustrate the Victorian Plain style heritage value of 13 Fitzroy Street:

- The overall massing of the home with its two storeys
- The dominant gable end facing the street
- The wooden shingle cladding with contrasting simple trim
- The plain eaves
- The size and placement of the windows including the stacked bay windows and the single and paired sash windows
- The size and off centre placement of the door with transom light above
- The size and placement of the porch with balustrade atop
- The gable roof lines, including the cantilevered and pedimented gable roof over the stacked bay windows

Other character-defining elements include:

- The location of the building on Fitzroy Street