Description of Historic Place

The Murphy House is a 1 and a ½ storey centre gabled style home with Gothic Revival architectural elements, located in the South Shore community of Cumberland, Prince Edward Island, overlooking the Northumberland Strait

Heritage Value

The Murphy Home is valued as a well-maintained example of its architectural style, for its historical associations and for its connection to one of the founding families of the community of Cumberland.

The Murphy house was built approximately 1879 by Thomas E. Murphy (1842-1917) to accommodate his growing family. In 1871, he married Mary Smith (1852-1935), and together they raised 10 children in the Murphy homestead. Thomas Murphy was a successful farmer and speculator in produce, cattle, and horses, who at one time owned over 300 acres of land. Murphy also served as a Justice of the Peace for more than 25 years and was an active member in the agricultural society.

Thomas E. Murphy's grandfather, Matthew Murphy, his wife and children, arrived in Prince Edward Island from County Carlow, Ireland in the 1820s. The Murphy family were among the original founding families in the South Shore area.

The Murphy family has great historic ties to nearby St. Martin of Tours Roman Catholic Church in Cumberland. The Murphy family donated the sandstone which was quarried from their land to build the church constructed between 1865-1868. Thomas's brothers, Peter and Lawrence, were part of the small team of builders for the church. Visiting Charlottetown priests who conducted services at St. Martin of Tours often stayed overnight as guests at the home of Thomas Murphy prior to the construction of a parochial house in the 1930s. For a short time in the 1960s, the home operated as a guest house. Today the house continues to be enjoyed by descendants of the Murphy family.

The Murphy House is very well-maintained and painted in the two-toned colour scheme, a once popular way to distinguish rural architecture. The home retains much of its original architectural features, showcasing an impressive front entrance with a double door surrounded by two bay windows. An interesting tri-sectional window with a twelve-pane upper sash in the front gable is an excellent feature. A summer kitchen was removed from the north elevation approximately 1950. Some work to the house in the1980s, including the addition of a concrete foundation, small kitchen window and addition to the north elevation have not detracted from its fine architecture.

An asset to the community of Cumberland, the Murphy House continues to add to the historic landscape of the South Shore.

Source: Heritage Division, Department of Tourism and Culture, Charlottetown, PEI
File #: 4310-20/M3

Character-Defining Elements

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

- the overall massing of the house
- the wood cladding including clapboard siding on first storey, and octagonal cut shingles on second storey
- the centre gable with its multi-paned triple window, intricate bracketing, and round attic window
- the size and placement of the windows with large shelf hoods supported by ornate brackets
- the bay windows on the front elevation, connecting to a small projecting roof protecting the front entry and windows
- the belt course of dentil moulding separating the first and second storeys
- the flared wall above belt course
- the verandah with a roof that wraps the northwest corner and is enclosed on the section closest to the body of the house
- the intricate barge board scrolls or brackets of the eaves
- the placement of the two chimneys
- the pitch of the roof