Description of Historic Place

The Todd House is a one-and-one-half storey Centre Gable style residence on a relatively large lot on the north side of Second Street. It is clad in white vinyl siding with black asphalt roof shingles and black shutters and has a double garage attached on the west. The main entrance is centred on the south elevation.

Heritage Value

Despite its appearance, the residence at 341 Second Street is probably one of the oldest buildings in Summerside. It has historical value not only for this reason, but because it is an example of the Centre Gable style of early houses built in Summerside in what is considered by historians to be the "old village" north of the shipyards and south of Joseph Green's Summerside House of the 1840s.

The dwelling on the 78 by 100 foot lot first belonged to John and Margaret Todd who were early residents of the fledgling town. Mr. Todd was a carriage builder and opened up a place of business on Water Street sometime before 1856. His residential property on Second Street was in the name of his wife, Margaret Gardiner, who was a daughter of prominent Lower Bedeque businessman and politician, Hon. John Rhodes Gardiner.

When John Todd ran into financial difficulties, his property was sold at a Sheriff's sale in 1860. John R. Gardiner, as the successful bidder, became co-owner of the 341 Second Street property with his daughter, Margaret. Shortly thereafter, Mr. Todd departed for California where he established himself as a carriage builder in Watsonville, Santa Cruz County. His wife and children joined him around 1867, the year in which the house was sold to Donald Ramsay.

Donald Ramsay was very well known in the community for his shipbuilding abilities. It is assumed that Mr. Ramsay and his wife Ann Simpson resided in the house for the next three years. In 1870, he sold it along with his shipyard and other property at the bottom of Cedar Street to the Hon. William Richards of Bideford, who had come to PEI from Wales as a master mariner. Capt. Richards may have provided the house to someone working in his shipyard or more likely it was a rental property.

Another long-time occupant of the property was Charles Lafferty. Mr. Lafferty came to Summerside in 1877 after learning the trade of barbering in Saint John, New Brunswick. In 1882, he married Sarah Jane Adams of Woodbrook, Lot 11 and it is assumed that they rented the house at 341 Second as a newly married couple. Charlie, as he was known to his many friends and customers, was a very popular barber. His shop, located in various buildings over his career, was proclaimed to be "the great news exchange" of the town.

The Lafferty home was hit by two lightning bolts in April 1917. A local newspaper reported the incident, noting that Mrs. Lafferty and her daughter Georgie had a close call while they were in the sitting room. "Both bolts came through the roof, one unceremoniously entering the sitting room through the wall at one corner and extinguishing both lamps. Fortunately it entered near a picture and the wire "deflected the current" which "found the electric bell wire and rang the bell as it went out..."

In 1921, the house was sold to Cyrus F. Gallant of Wellington. He was a merchant who was very active in the Co-operative Movement of PEI. In 1926, he sold the property to John James Farrell of Lot 16.

Dr. J.J. Farrell was a veterinary surgeon, the son of James and Maryanne Farrell of Lot 16. After his graduation from the University of Toronto in 1913, he went overseas during the First World War and returned with his wife, Victorine Haspeslagh, of Belgium. Dr. Farrell opened a veterinary practice in Summerside in 1926 and had his office in his house. After his death in 1959, his widow stayed on Second Street until 1964, later moving to Toronto to live with her son.

Orrin K. Anderson, a member of the Royal Canadian Air Force, and his wife Jean made it their home until 1978. The next owner was Ernest J. DesRoches who sold it in 1984 to the current owner.

Source: City of Summerside, Heritage Property Profiles

Character-Defining Elements

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

- the rectangular footprint and one-and-one-half storey elevation
- the Centre Gable style
- the low pitched gable roof
- the brick chimney
- the gable dormer centred above the front entrance
- the windows symmetrically located on either side of the front entrance