Description of Historic Place

The Yeo House is a rare two storey hydra stone house built of concrete blocks in the Colonial Revival style. It sits on landscaped grounds on a hill on Main Street. The facade is symmetrical with decorative quoins on the corners of the house. A large flat roofed verandah runs across the facade.

Heritage Value

The house is valued for its association with the Ives and Yeo families; for its unique Colonial Revival architectural style; and for its contribution to the streetscape.

Meacham's 1880 Atlas of PEI shows the original property as owned by Michael Brennock or Brennick. At that time there was a one-and-one-half storey building on the property. On January 12, 1912, Isaac Ives purchased the property. The current house was built by Ives from 1916 to 1918.

Using a plan and making concrete blocks on the site, the new home was built in the Colonial Revival style. It has a square configuration with a hipped roof. The facade is symmetrical with large square bays. A large verandah runs the full length of the facade. A dormer centrally placed on the roof was a later addition. Ives had his name and the 1918 completion date carved in the lintel above the front entrance.

Isaac Ives was a successful businessman in Montague, owning the Montague Sash and Door Factory which supplied many of the homes in the area with windows and doors. He would continue to reside in the house until he sold it to Bruce H. Yeo on August 22, 1939.

Bruce Yeo was renowned in King's County for his movie theatre business. He operated three theatres and a circuit theatre in eastern PEI. In the decades before television, movies were very popular and were often a source of information about the news of the world since newsreels usually preceded the beginning of films. Yeo's main theatre in Montague was a landmark from the 1930s and into the 1970s. Yeo was also active in local politics as the longest serving mayor of Montague.

With its well preserved architectural features and its association with notable figures in Montague's history, the house continues to contribute to its streetscape.

Source: Culture and Heritage Division, PEI Department of Communities, Cultural Affairs and Labour, Charlottetown, PE C1A 7N8
File #: 4310-20/M19

Character-Defining Elements

The following character-defining elements illustrate the heritage value of the house:

- the two storey square configuration
- the hipped roof with central hipped roof dormer
- the brick fireplace chimney
- the hydra stone concrete construction
- the symmetrical arrangement of the facade's windows and doors
- the large verandah across the length of the facade
- the quoins on the corners of the building
- the location of the house set back from the street on a hill with landscaped grounds