Description of Historic Place

The Alexander McMillan House is a large two storey finely constructed double 'ell' farmhouse in excellent condition dating from 1875 located in the rural community of Wheatley River, Prince Edward Island.

Heritage Value

The Alexander McMillan House is valued for its age, architectural style, association with Prince Edward Island shipbuilding and its contribution to the historical landscape of its community.

The McMillan House was built in 1875 by Alexander McMillan (1821-1884) a successful businessman whose family emigrated from Argyleshire, Scotland and settled in the Wheatley River area in 1834. While its architect is unknown, the house was built using the balloon framing method commonly used by shipyard architects in this time period. In 1841 McMillan established a shipbuilding business in partnership with his brothers Angus and Archibald with whom he worked until 1859. Alexander returned to the original family homestead, but found farming to be unsatisfactory, so turned again to shipbuilding, and expanded into merchandising and exporting agricultural crops. In 1862 he married Sarah Ross and they raised 11 children. In Wheatley River McMillan operated a store on his property with an additional three stores located throughout the province, managing to weather the decline of shipbuilding on Prince Edward Island better than most due to his other business interests.

Built at the end of the Golden Era of PEI's shipbuilding industry, the house retains much of its original historic fabric. It is one of the finest, and one of only a handful of shipwright built houses in the area. While no longer in the McMillan family, past owners have valued the historic character and charm of the property and have made sympathetic updates.

The Alexander McMillan House continues to be an important landmark in its community and a reminder of the important role the shipbuilding industry played in the history of the province.

Source: Heritage Places files, Dept of Economic Growth, Tourism & Culture, Charlottetown, PE C1A 7N8 File #: 4310-20/A53

Character-Defining Elements

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

- the overall form, scale and massing of the residence
- the wood shingle cladding
- the wide fascia boards
- the decorative eave brackets
- the box bay window on the side elevation
- the size and placement of the multi-paned original windows
- the window trim 'dog-eared' hood mouldings
- the symmetrical placement and size of the window openings on the rear elevation
- the pitch and slope of the roofline on the centre section of the house, and slightly lower roofline of the ell extensions on each wing
- the dormers in each of the ell extensions
- the decorative finials in peaks of the eaves
- the four round attic window openings
- the circular bronze PEI Heritage Foundation plaque inscribed 'The Alexander McMillan House 1875'