Description of Historic Place

Ambroise Dupuis House is located on Acadie Road, at Dupuis Corner, in the village of Cap-Pelé. This vernacular-style two-storey wood-frame building of Greek inspiration has a cross-gable roof with a dormer window.

Heritage Value

Ambroise Dupuis House is designated a Local Historic Place for its architecture and for its association with Ambroise Dupuis and Charles Hébert.

Ambroise Dupuis House, built circa 1855, is a good example of a vernacular-style one-and-a-half storey house of Greek inspiration from this period. Its classic details include returned eaves, a rectangular plan, pilasters and entablature on the entrance and an overall symmetry. A key classic vernacular element is the cross-gable roof.

When it was built, the house was one of the largest in the region, reflecting the prominence of Ambroise Depuis. Ambroise Dupuis was an important figure and a provincial school inspector, from whom the village of Dupuis Corner takes its name. He settled in Dupuis Corner, then known as Grand Tidiche, around 1838. An astute businessman, he got involved in the forestry industry in 1851 by purchasing a sawmill and speculating in the purchase of woodlands. In 1861, his 300-acre property was assessed at $4,000, well above the average at the time.

Ambroise Dupuis’ adoptive grandson, Charles Hébert, inherited the property. He was a provincial school inspector and was responsible for the advancement of Acadians in education in New Brunswick. In 1903, he was named school inspector for the southeastern part of the province, a position until then held solely by anglophones. During the second half of the 19th century, the Hébert family of Cap-Pelé played a major role in teaching in the region. A strong nationalist, Charles Hébert was a member of the executive of the Société nationale Assomption for many years. A local businessman, he also owned a flour mill.

Between 1955 and 1957, the Dupuis Corner post office was in this house.

Source: Village of Cap-Pelé Municipal Building, Historic Places file number 19

Character-Defining Elements

The character-defining elements that describe the Ambroise Dupuis House include:
- its location in the Dupuis Corner area of Cap-Pelé;
- overall symmetry;
- two-storey rectangular massing;
- wood-frame of the main structure;
- cross-gable roof;
- returned eaves;
- original boards of the floor, ceiling, and roof;
- entablature and Ionic pilasters on either side of the main entrance ;
- original opening shapes and locations.