Description of Historic Place

The Joseph A. Dingwell House, located in Fortune Bridge, Prince Edward Island, is a symmetric, one-and-a-half storey Maritime vernacular centre dormer ell farmhouse built circa 1850, expanded from a circa 1830 log cabin that forms a back wing on the south and west elevations.

Heritage Value

The Joseph A. Dingwell House in Fortune Bridge, Prince Edward Island, is valued for its age, its overall good exterior condition incorporating a rare, extant log construction, and for its overall importance to its community, especially with respect to a famous 19th/20th century actor's colony.

Although the original architect is unknown, it is almost certain that local men were contracted to expand the original log cabin into the wood-framed vernacular landmark it would become at the midpoint of the 19th century. Originally home to Joseph Dingwell (1838-1905) and his wife Maria (Fall) for five decades, after his death in 1905 the house was purchased by Charles P. Flocton, owner of an eponymous theatre company. Flockton's group performed annually in this part of the province since the late 1890s, following his purchase of a farm on nearby Howe Point intended as the beginning of an actor's colony. Among those Flockton enticed to Fortune Bridge were actor Harry Warwick and his wife Elsa, the model for the "Gibson Girl".

Very briefly in 1905, the former Dingwell house was the residence of Cuthbert Cooper, an American actor and personal friend of Flockton. Cooper's occupancy, however, was tragically cut short when he perished during an early winter snowstorm after losing his bearings and succumbing to the harsh elements. In 1937, following the 30-year tenancy of William and Mary Coffin, the property was purchased by Captain Neville Heber-Percy (1891-1966) of Shropshire, England and his wife Violet, as their summer home for the next three decades. Captain Heber-Percy, a former silent movie actor, wrote (and starred in) the 1919 production "Smart Set", a British crime drama. He also starred in "The Swindler" (1919) and "Her Majesty" (1922). While in Fortune Bridge, the Heber-Percys were a well-respected fixture in the community, and a small road (Captain Percy Lane) carries their legacy. After Captain Heber-Percy's death in 1966, the house changed hands a number of times until it was acquired by the current owners in 2000.

Several renovations and alterations have been carried out on the house over the last two centuries - indeed, constant evolution has been a hallmark of its history. A section of the original log cabin was detached in the late 1930s by William and Mary Coffin and moved to a parcel of land north of the house following the sale of the property to the Heber-Percys. In 1942, the house was raised and placed on a new concrete foundation, work carried out by Herbert Jackson, grandfather of the current owner. Around this time, the original front door was replaced with a large window, and a new kitchen extension was built to replace the portion of the log cabin that had been removed. Later alterations include new clapboard on the south elevation, and a replacement cedar shingled roof in 2008, undertaken by MacKenzie Brothers of Fortune. Additionally, new wooden windows, sympathetically chosen, have been installed in original openings over the years and a large exterior chimney has also been removed.

The Joseph A. Dingwell House is significant for its association with the early settlement of Fortune Bridge and in particular the Dingwell family, whose pioneering roots in the area reach back to the latter years of the 18th century. From a cultural perspective, great significance is derived from the succession of ownership that strongly links the house with the actor's colony established at the turn of the 20th century. Furthermore, the house stands out as an incredible example of architectural evolution, a structure ultimately expanded from a simple log cabin from the early 19th century; in addition, the house is believed to possess a connection (as yet unverified) to noted Island architect Edward Stirling "Bones" Blanchard, as some of the mid-century renovations resemble his distinctive style.

Source: Heritage Places files, Dept of Fisheries, Tourism, Sport & Culture, Charlottetown, PE
File #: 4310-20/D8

Character-Defining Elements

The heritage value of the house is shown in the following character-defining elements:

- the location of the house on its original site
- the massing of the house
- the incorporation of a circa 1830 log cabin onto the body of the house
- the brick chimney with a rounded brick top
- the wood shingled roof
- the wood clapboard cladding
- the original window openings on the body of the house
- the wide central dormer
- the low profile of the simple, gabled roof
- the low profile of the body of the house with respect to the ground
- the eave returns
- the wide corner boards

Further contributing character-defining elements:

- the extensive sandstone-lined flower beds which run between the house and the road
- the adjacent barn, believed to date from the Dingwell era