Description of Historic Place

27 Ole King Square is a wood framed, Second Empire style house located near historic King Square. The Longworth Brothers built the home in 1870. The designation encompasses the building's exterior and parcel; it does not include the building's interior.

Heritage Value

The heritage value of 27 Ole King Square lies in its association with various Charlottetown residents; its impressive Second Empire architecture; and its importance to the streetscape.

A local newspaper, the Semi Weekly Patriot, reported that a number of homes under construction were almost finished. A home that was being built for the Messrs. Longworth was among those that were mentioned. Unfortunately, the location of the home was not disclosed, however the next year the Longworth Brothers advertised a house for rent at the 27 King Square location.

The house was built in the Second Empire style. The style is readily identified through its Mansard roof which 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. As a good example of the Second Empire style in Charlottetown, it is an asset to the streetscape.

In 1888, the home was sold to Jane and Edward Chandler by the Longworths whose company had sustained some loss. The home was passed to their son, also named Edward, and his wife. Edward was a clerk at a local hardware store and later became a manager of the Prowse Bros. & Co., a local dry goods store. A later owner of the home was Mrs. Fanny Praught who rented out a section of it to Charles E. Praught and his wife Gladys.

27 Ole King Square faces historic King Square. King Square was one of four public squares laid out in the 1771 plan of Charlottetown by Governor Walter Patterson and Surveyor Thomas Wright. Originally, the area nearby was residential and included light industry and a manufacturing community.

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 style influenced character-defining elements contribute to the heritage value of 27 Ole King Square:
- The overall massing of the building with its symmetrical facade, wood frame construction, and shingle cladding
- The Mansard Roof
- The stone foundation
- The contrasting mouldings and decorative bracketing along the roofline
- The style and symmetrical placement of the tall paired windows, symmetrically placed with two on each side of the door, as well as the gable roofed dormer windows
- The style and central placement of the doors, particularly the first floor door with its sidelights and the second floor double doors
- The centrally placed, two level front porch with its decorative columns, cornices and balustrade
- The placement and size of the chimney

Other character-defining elements include:
- The location of the home facing on to King Square