Description of Historic Place

The beautifully maintained former Simon Pineau House is a large, vernacular centre gable, Island ell house with later additions in keeping with its original architectural style. There are many decorative embellishments, including scalloped edged shingles or board and batten detailing and arched windows in the gable and dormer peaks, and a covered verandah with turned posts and gingerbread trim. The distinctive white painted wood-shingled residence with green trim is located on Church Hill Avenue next to Stella Maris Roman Catholic Church in the north shore Acadian fishing village of North Rustico, Prince Edward Island.

Heritage Value

Built as a residence for Simon Pineau (d. 1934) and wife Adoline (d. 1950) and their family, this impressive large Gothic Revival home was constructed between 1909 and 1910. It is evident given the size of house and its fine and elaborate craftsmanship that Pineau had great success as a farmer, fox farmer, fish factory owner and lobster packer.

The Parish of Stella Maris was established in 1936. North Rustico residents had travelled by water, horse and cart or sleigh, or by foot before automobiles were commonplace, to worship 4 ½ miles away at St. Augustine's Roman Catholic Church in South Rustico. Stella Maris parish priest, Rev. J. Douglas McNeill wished to establish a convent and school for the expanding North Rustico congregation much like South Rustico's. Originally located a few fields away from where it now stands, the Pineau house was purchased by the Congregation of Notre Dame and on October 2, 1940, the slow process of moving it to its current location began, taking six days! The land was donated by Simon Pineau's son, Cornelius "Connie" Pineau and the home became the Stella Maris Convent. Students boarded at the Convent and with increasing enrolment an addition was made in 1950 to accommodate the students. A chapel was also added at this time. The Sisters who lived here provided night classes and also taught at the nearby Stella Maris School, since destroyed by fire in 1954. A smaller flat-roofed addition was constructed in the 1980s. Important in the life and education of the community, the Sisters of Notre Dame continued to teach in the rebuilt school until it closed in the 1990s.

The Convent closed in 2007 and Errol and Rose Gallant of Rusticoville purchased the property. Following modernization and renovations sympathetic to the heritage character of the building, Villa Marguerite Seniors Home opened in 2010.

Villa Marguerite is an excellent example of adaptive re-use of a heritage building maintaining much of its original exterior architectural features. Because of its importance to its community and associations with the Pineau family, the history of education and religion, the former Pineau House / Stella Maris Convent / Villa Marguerite continues to be valued as an important heritage asset to the community of North Rustico.

Source: Heritage Places files, Dept. of Fisheries, Tourism, Sport and Culture, Charlottetown, PE
File # : 4310-20/P51

Character-Defining Elements

The heritage value of the former Simon Pineau House / former Stella Maris Convent is shown in the following character-defining elements:

- the scale and massing of the building
- the wood shingle cladding
- the scalloped edged shingle and board and batten detailing on upper storey and peaks of the dormers
- the pitch and slope of the various rooflines
- the ell shaped configuration of the house
- the centre dormer with scalloped edged shingles
- the size and placement of multi-paned windows with decorative hood mouldings
- the bay windows on the front and north elevations
- the dormer windows with arched windows on the front and north elevations
- the covered wrap around verandah with turned posts and gingerbread trim
- the corner boards
- the 1950s gambrel roofed addition

Further contributing heritage character-defining elements:

- the location of the residence next to the Stella Maris Roman Catholic Church