Description du lieu patrimonial

The former Norton House is a 1 ½ storey centre dormer house with Georgian architectural elements located in Brudenell Provincial Park, Prince Edward Island. It forms part of the Brudenell Golf Course as its reservation centre. The symmetrically proportioned building is wood shingled with a centre dormer on a large sloping lot which overlooks the Brudenell River with Brudenell Island in the distance.

Valeur patrimoniale

The heritage value of Norton House lies in its early 1822 construction date, and for its association with the Norton family, early settlers in the area, as a rural farmhouse, and for its current role in connection with the Brudenell and Dundarave golf courses.

Norton House was built for or by John Norton (1760-1830) overlooking the Brudenell River and was known variously as Bell View, Bellevue Cottage, or Belleview. John Norton (born MacNaughton) was a Scottish botanist and horticulturalist who, prior to emigrating to the Three Rivers area of Prince Edward Island in 1821, worked at Kew Gardens in London, England. Norton married Eleanor Jones in Wales. The couple along with their nine children settled in this home in Brudenell and an additional three children were born in PEI. Norton planted trees and gardens from seeds he brought with him to PEI including the linden trees from which all linden trees in the province descend. He left detailed instructions for the property's garden, recreated in a 1970s family history compiled by a descendant. In addition to farming Norton was appointed the first postmaster for Three Rivers, a post he held for his lifetime.

After John Norton's death in 1830, the property passed to his widow and son John Huddard Norton. The younger John Norton left PEI in 1849 for the California Gold Rush and in the 1850s his brother Fred purchased the house and farm. Jessie (Norton) Beck, a daughter of Egerton Seymour Norton, the last Norton family member to reside here, was the family historian and provided a description of the very fine house and its furnishings, and the plan of the garden in her "Of these stones, the MacNaughton-Nortons 1760-1972." In 1972 numerous Norton family descendants gathered for a family reunion on the lawn of the Norton House. It was likely during this event that a sandstone cairn and plaque with the family history was unveiled opposite the house.

The property remained with successive generations of the Norton family until 1946 when it was purchased by Richard Curley, a WWII veteran. Richard and Frances Curley with their family of 11 children lived and farmed here enjoying the spacious grounds and natural surroundings.

The removal of the large stone chimney and back staircase occurred about 1906 to enlargen the kitchen; it was wired for electricity and a new door was installed in 1959 and the sandstone foundation was replaced with concrete and the verandah with shed roof was added about 1970. Original farm outbuildings have since been removed.

In 1970 the Province of PEI acquired the farm and house to enlarge Brudenell Provincial Park, using the house as an administrative centre and later as the Golf Academy and Reservation Centre for nearby Brudenell River and Dundarave Golf Courses. It is interesting to note that the golf course is named for John (MacNaughton) Norton's purported ancestral home, Dundarave Castle in Loch Fyne, Scotland as inscribed on a sandstone cairn and plaque on the property outlining the importance of the Norton property.

This house is a tangible reminder of the early settlement of Brudenell and those who farmed the land. While it has had some historically unsympathetic updates (vinyl window inserts, modern door), which could be easily reversed, the house continues to be valued as important component in the landscape and as an example of fine and lasting craftsmanship in rural Prince Edward Island.

Source: Heritage Places files, PEI Department of Fisheries, Tourism, Sport & Culture, Charlottetown, PEI File #: 4310-20/N11

Éléments caractéristiques

The heritage value of the former Norton House in Georgetown Royalty is shown in the following character-defining elements:

- the scale and massing of the house
- the wood shingle cladding
- the pitch and slope of the roofline
- the pedimented centre dormer
- the size and placement of the multi-paned windows with hood covers
- the centred front entrance door
- the corner boards and eave returns

Further contributing heritage character-defining elements:

- the location within the Brudenell Provincial Park surrounded by expansive manicured lawns with mature trees overlooking the Brudenell River
- the sandstone cairn and tablet outlining the importance of the property inscribed: John Norton, born MacNaughton (1760-1830), a Scottish botanist who designed the Kew Gardens came from Wales in 1822 with his wife, Eleanor nee Jones and twelve children. Dundarave Castle Loch Fyne was his ancestral home. He built the Norton House in 1822 and introduced a wide variety of flowering plants, fruits and vegetables as well as the hawthorne English oak and lime trees still growing in the vicinity. In 1827, John was appointed first Postmaster of Three Rivers.