Description of Historic Place

The Hugh Montgomery House, Fox Point in Malpeque is a one-and-one-half storey vernacular house built in the centre hall, centre dormer plan located on a low cliff on the northeast side of Malpeque Bay.

Heritage Value

The Hugh Montgomery House is valued for its age, architectural integrity and its association with generations of the Montgomery family.

This rural one-and-one-half storey house is a very early structure which includes a 1775 pioneer cabin and the upper storey believed to have been constructed about 1800-1810. The home was built in the vernacular central hall, centre gable style and has been largely unaltered over the years. A dormer was added about 1850 and some windows were changed in approximately 1900. In 1950 a kitchen wing was removed from the west side of the house. The house was the home of some of the earliest British settlers in the province Hugh Montgomery (1731 - 1824) and his wife Mary McShannon and their family. The house was home to 5 generations of the Montgomery family, including their son Donald Montgomery (1760 - 1845) and his wife Nancy Penman who raised 17 children here.

It is believed that the Montgomerys hosted Governor Edmund Fanning (1739 - 1818) here on occasion. And, it is reputed that the house sheltered surviving crews of vessels wrecked near its shore during the 1851 Yankee Gale, a vicious storm from which it was reported 36 vessels came ashore at Malpeque and many more along the north shore of the province.

Other descendants of the original Montgomery occupants of this home include Senator Donald Montgomery (1807-1893) of Park Corner, father of Hugh John Montgomery who, with Clara Woolner Macneill, were the parents of world famous author, Lucy Maud Montgomery (1874-1942).

In the late 1950s, the house was sold out of the Montgomery family and has since served as a summer vacation home.

Located at Fox Point, Malpeque, the Hugh Montgomery House is an important landmark in its community.

Source : Culture and Heritage Division, Department of Tourism and Culture, Charlottetown, PE
File # : 4310-20/H22

Character-Defining Elements

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

- the overall massing of the building
- the log and wood frame construction
- the wood shingle siding
- the symmetrical front facade, with centre door and two windows on either side
- the roof pitch
- the centre dormer with its window
- the size and placement of the windows
- the window cornice and lintels
- the cornerboards
- the chimneys
- its location in Malpeque