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La Petite France

441 Church Street, Alberton, Prince Edward Island, C0B, Canada

Formally Recognized: 2006/11/15

Showing south elevation; Alberton Historical Preservation Foundation, 2006
441 Church Street
Showing south west elevation; Alberton Historical Preservation Foundation, 2006
441 Church Street
Showing south east elevation circa. 1930; Alberton Museum, Hubert Rogers' Collection
441 Church Street

Other Name(s)

La Petite France
The Fred Rogers' House

Links and documents

Construction Date(s)

Listed on the Canadian Register: 2006/12/14

Statement of Significance

Description of Historic Place

La Petite France is a two storey wood framed and wood shingled house influenced by the Stick style. It is situated prominently on Church Street in the Town of Alberton adjacent to the Alberton Courthouse Museum. The registration includes the building's exterior and parcel; it does not include the building's interior.

Heritage Value

The house is valued for its unique Stick Style influenced architectural details; for its association with former residents of Alberton; and for its contribution to the streetscape.

Fred L. Rogers (1845-1951) built the house in 1892-1894. George Gard was the carpenter. Rogers was the son of PEI Lieutenant Governor Benjamin Rogers (1837-1923). The elaborate Stick Style influences of the property are evident in its assymetrical configuration of an assortment of gable roofs, projecting square bay windows, and porches with turned posts and balusters. The exterior wall surfaces with their combination of decorative wood shingles with vertical and horizontal wood boards dividing the surfaces is also characteristic of the style.

Fred Rogers' sons became notable - Wendell Rogers was a WW I flying ace, while Hubert Rogers (1898-1982) became a renowned Canadian artist with an international reputation. He painted posters for the war effort during WW II, such as the 1943 work: "Attack on All Fronts". He also was commissioned to paint the 1943 Quebec Conference which now hangs in the Canadian War Museum. His portraits of Canadian government officials are displayed in Parliament and Rideau Hall. While working in the US, he did artwork for science fiction pulp magazines.

Two future Canadian prime ministers visited the house. Mackenzie-King in 1919 when he succeeded Laurier as head of the Liberal Party and ran for a seat in the riding of Prince in PEI. In 1978, Joe Clark was a guest of then owner, Rev. David MacDonald, a United Church minister who would later become a cabinet minister in Clark's 1979 Progressive Conservative government.

The property now serves as a bed and breakfast. Due to its many historical associations and its well preserved architectural elements the house remains a landmark in the Town of Alberton.

Source: Culture and Heritage Division, PEI Department of Community and Cultural Affairs, Charlottetown, PE C1A 7N8
File #: 4310-20/L3

Character-Defining Elements

The following character-defining elements contribute to the Stick Style influenced heritage value of the house:

- The asymmetrical massing of the building with its two storeys
- The contrasting wood shingle cladding
- The vertical and horizontal boards dividing the exterior surface walls
- The several gable roofs with decorative barge boards
- The projecting square bay windows with their scroll brackets
- The elaborate porches with turned posts and balustrade
- The fenestration of the windows and doors

Other character-defining elements include:

- The prominient location of the home on a treed lot on Church Street adjacent to the Courthouse Museum and its physical and visual relationship to its streetscape

Recognition

Jurisdiction

Prince Edward Island

Recognition Authority

Province of Prince Edward Island

Recognition Statute

Heritage Places Protection Act

Recognition Type

Registered Historic Place

Recognition Date

2006/11/15

Historical Information

Significant Date(s)

n/a

Theme - Category and Type

Expressing Intellectual and Cultural Life
Architecture and Design

Function - Category and Type

Current

Commerce / Commercial Services
Hotel, Motel or Inn

Historic

Residence
Single Dwelling

Architect / Designer

n/a

Builder

n/a

Additional Information

Location of Supporting Documentation

Culture and Heritage Division, PEI Department of Community and Cultural Affairs, Charlottetown, PE C1A 7N8 File #: 4310-20/L3

Cross-Reference to Collection

Fed/Prov/Terr Identifier

4310-20/L3

Status

Published

Related Places

n/a

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