Description of Historic Place

101 Weymouth Street is a wood framed, Second Empire home built by James W. Butcher. It is one of two very similar homes built at the same time and located side by side on Weymouth Street. The designation encompasses the building's exterior and parcel; it does not include the building's interior.

Heritage Value

The heritage value of 101 Weymouth Street lies in its Second Empire influenced architecture and its importance to the Weymouth Street streetscape.

According to the 2 September 1878 edition of the local newspaper the Patriot, Butcher advertised that he had recently built two large homes on Weymouth Street. Each home featured nine rooms, a pantry, four closets, iron gas pipes and register grates. Unfortunately, Butcher ran into financial difficulty soon after he constructed the homes. By November 1878, 101 Weymouth and its companion, 93 Weymouth Street were assigned to a trustee to secure the loans of creditors. It was not long before Premier W.W. Sullivan purchased the homes, however he did not keep them in his possession for long and they were soon resold. Margaret H. Walker McCormack and Henry Pope Welsh were two of the owners until some point after 1915. The 1935 Prince Edward Island Telephone Directory reveals that E.E. Clawson was a resident of the home.

101 Weymouth Street was later used both as an apartment building and for office space.

Butcher had chosen the Second Empire style for his two homes. The style is readily identified through its Mansard roof. This was named after François Mansart (1598-1666), and popularized by his son, Jules Hardoin Mansart, an architect who worked for Louis XIV around 1700. The Mansard roof is almost flat on the top section and has deeply sloping, often curved, lower sections that generally contain dormers. The Second Empire referred to in the style is that of Napoleon III (1852-1870). The style reached Canada through Britain and the United States and was used extensively throughout Charlottetown from approximately 1860 until 1880. 101 Weymouth Street is a good example of the Second Empire style in Charlottetown.

101 Weymouth Street, along with its companion house 93 Weymouth Street, has been well maintained and together they make a strong visual impact. It continues to play a large role in supporting the 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 Second Empire influenced character-defining elements contribute to the heritage value of 101 Weymouth Street:

- The overall massing of the building with its two storeys
- The wood cladding
- The mouldings painted in a contrasting colour, particularly the door and window surrounds, the brackets along the eaves, the corner boards, as well as the pendant details and brackets on the projecting canopy roof over the front door
- The Mansard roof with its gabled dormers
- The size and placement of the windows, particularly the bay window, the paired two over two windows and the round arched dormer windows
- The size and off centre placement of the door with its side light and transom light above
- The interesting diamond pattern roof shingles

Other character-defining elements of 101 Weymouth Street include:

- The location of the home set close to the street next to its companion home at 93 Weymouth Street