Description of Historic Place

34 Kent Street is a wood framed, vernacular style house located on the corner of Kent and Rochford Streets and is set close to the street. In summer, the home is surrounded by a beautiful garden. A very old house, it was built in approximately 1833. The designation encompasses the building’s exterior and parcel; it does not include the building’s interior.

Heritage Value

The heritage value of 34 Kent Street lies in its association with various early Charlottetown residents; its vernacular architectural style; and its role in supporting the Kent and Rochford Street streetscapes.

It is not clear when 34 Kent Street was built, but George Wright’s Field Notes of October 1833 named John Clark Binns as the owner of the home on this lot so it is known that the home was on the property at this point. According to an abstract of title document for the property, merchant and shipbuilder, Samuel Nelson, who acted as trustee for deceased merchant, Samuel May Williams, conveyed interest in the property to John Clark Binns in 1834.

Attorney, John Clark Binns, the son of lawyer, Charles Binns, had enjoyed a great deal of success in the over thirty years that he lived at 34 Kent Street. He had a reputation for being a knowledgeable attorney and acquired a great deal of property. In 1867, Binns moved to a large country estate, he named Binstead, which still stands to this day.

Unfortunately, just three years later, Binns passed away. His will revealed that Henry Douse, a local trader, was a tenant of the home and that it would be left to his daughter, Mary Ann Binns. Since Mary Ann Binns died of typhoid fever early in her life, the home went to her husband, John T. Crockett, and family.

John T. Crockett operated a grocery business nearby, at 56-58 Grafton Street that sold fish, meats and other groceries. His descendants continued to live at the home until at least as late as 1935. The home has had various tenants and owners throughout its history but remains a residence to this day.

Over the years, the home has been altered with the addition of shed dormers, for example, but the lines of the original home are still visible. As one of the oldest homes in the City, 34 Kent Street was built in a vernacular style with a central doorway, gable roof with eave returns, and clapboard siding. The well maintained property is well preserved and is an asset to the Rochford and Kent Street streetscapes.

Sources: Heritage Office, City of Charlottetown Planning Department, PO Box 98, Charlottetown, PE C1A 7K2
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Character-Defining Elements

The following character-defining elements illustrate the heritage value of 34 Kent Street:
- The overall massing of the one and one half storey building
- The clapboard cladding with contrasting trim
- The shed dormers and the additions to the south side of the home
- The placement and size of the windows, particularly the large windows of the first floor and the windows of the shed dormers
- The placement and style of the door facing Kent Street, with its decorative canopy porch that includes turned posts and decorative brackets
- The pitch of the gable roof and its eaves returns
- The style and placement of the chimneys
- The location of the home, set close to the street, on the corner of Kent Street and Rochford Street
- The award winning garden surrounding the home