Description of Historic Place
The former W. Thomas Stright House is a 1 ½ storey wood-clad, centre dormer house with an ell section and a more recent rear addition, located in the south shore community of Victoria, Prince Edward Island.
Heritage Value
The former W. Thomas Stright House is valued for its association with the early history of Victoria, Prince Edward Island, as a good example of its architectural style and design, and for its more recent connections with the tourism industry and development of summer theatre programming in Victoria.
This 1 ½ storey centre dormer vernacular house was built possibly prior to 1872, perhaps by local carpenter Adam Rogerson from whom the property was purchased. A section of the house may date as early as the 1840s. It was the home of farmer & trader W. Thomas Stright (1832-1918). Stright's father, Joseph Stright emigrated from Cornwall, England to Charlottetown in 1833 where he worked as a joiner and later operated a tavern on North River Road. When Joseph died, his two eldest sons W. Thomas and William relocated to Crapaud.
W. Thomas Stright married widow Ann Margaret (Dawson) Bulpitt in 1872 and they, along with Ann Margaret's daughter, Bessie lived here. Thomas's brother William died at the young age of 42 in 1879. William's son Captain Charles J. Stright and his wife Lilla played an important role in Thomas's life. The Captain shipped farm produce for his uncle and his wife cared for Thomas in his later years. Thomas's first wife died in 1885 and his second wife, Eliza Murray, predeceased him in 1912.
The house is known locally as the Captain's House, for its association with Charles Straight, who actually lived on Nelson Street closer to Victoria Wharf. Captain Stright owned at least four small schooners running Island produce and goods to Cape Breton, returning with coal. His ledgers reveal his various business dealings including fishing and packing lobsters, painting houses, and carriage repair. He later established the retail operation C.J. Stright and Son in Summerside.
Following W. Thomas's death, the property passed to his son Edward Stright (d. 1958), an apprentice to local tailor John MacLeod.
For many years the house had been rented to tenants such as the Inmans in 1920s and by the 1950s to a Quigley family.
In the 1970s the house was owned by Myron Mitton of New Brunswick who operated restaurants on Victoria Wharf and rented the house to American playwright Keith Fox and his, mostly American, cast members who staged many theatre productions at Victoria and Georgetown. The Victoria Playhouse repertory theatre was established in 1982 by Erskine Smith, operating from the Victoria Hall, and has been a mainstay draw for local residents and tourists alike to the seaside community ever since.
The house is on its original site, retains many original architectural features and changes have been in-keeping with the home's heritage characteristics. In the 1920s bay windows were added to the front elevation. In the 1980s a new foundation was added, the roofline of the ell section was raised, the roof re-shingled and some windows were replaced. The current owners added an addition to the rear elevation in 2020.
The former W. Thomas Stright House in Victoria continues to be an important component of the community's history and landscape.
Source: Heritage Places files, Dept of Economic Growth, Tourism & Culture files, Charlottetown PE File #: 4310-10/S52
Character-Defining Elements
The heritage value of the residence is shown in the following character-defining elements:
- the scale and massing of the house
- the pitch and slope of the roof
- the centre dormer with board and batten cladding in the roof peak
- the size and placement of the sash windows
- the projecting bay windows on the front elevation
- the wood clapboard cladding on the front elevation
- the wood shingle cladding on three elevations, and board and batten detailing in the peak of the south elevation gable end
- the roof covering the front verandah and bay windows
- the kitchen ell addition
