Description of Historic Place

21 Ole King Square is a wood framed, Maritime Vernacular style house located near historic King Square. William Butcher likely built it after he purchased the land in 1834. The designation encompasses the building's exterior and parcel; it does not include the building's interior.

Heritage Value

The heritage value of 21 Ole King Square lies in its association with various Charlottetown residents; its role as a good example of mid Nineteenth Century housing in the City; and its importance to the streetscape.

Brewer, Thomas Pethick owned the land on which 21 Ole Kings Square stands. In 1834, William Butcher, a local carpenter, purchased the land. Butcher continued to live in the home until 1858, when he moved to a two storey residence and rented out his former home. The advertisement in the local newspapers read, "Comfortable cottage on King's Square- 4 rooms on first storey and 3 on second."

When William Butcher died in 1867, his daughter Betsy Maria Wright inherited 21 Ole King Square. She lived there for many years and passed it on to her son, Mark Wright of Mark Wright and Company Furniture. Henry Smith eventually purchased the property and at some point, it was rented to a Mrs. Ashley however, Smith's widow was listed as living in the home in a 1900 street directory. Their descendants would own the home into the Twentieth Century. By 1915, a barber named John Riggs lived at the home and in 1925, Harry A. McDougall, a clerk at the local store, Paton's Ltd. was listed as residing there.

21 Ole King Square was influenced by the Maritime Vernacular Cottage style of architecture. The style was common in mid 1800s Charlottetown. A distinctively Maritime style, its features include a rectangular plan, a central doorway and a large, centrally placed wall dormer. In this example, there are also two symmetrically placed roof dormers on opposite sides of the central dormer. A well kept and attractive home that is located next to a very similarly styled home; it plays an important role in supporting the streetscape.

21 Ole King Square faces historic King Square. King Square was one of four public squares laid out in the 1771 plan of Charlottetown by Governor Walter Patterson and Surveyor Thomas Wright. Originally, the area nearby was residential and included light industry and a manufacturing community.

Sources: Heritage Office, City of Charlottetown Planning Department, PO Box 98, Charlottetown, PE C1A 7K2
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Character-Defining Elements

The following Maritime Vernacular Cottage influenced character-defining elements contribute to the heritage value of 21 Ole King Square:
- The overall massing of the building and its wood frame construction
- The mouldings and gingerbread painted in a darker colour
- The roof that was once a gable roof, but has been altered in the rear with the addition of a shed dormer so that it does not have the typical slope that it once had.
- The large gabled wall dormer and the two smaller roof dormers on either side of it.
- The style and symmetrical placement of the windows including the tall paired first floor windows symmetrically placed with two on each side of the door
- The centrally placed paired dormer windows and the smaller dormer windows
- The style and central placement of the door with its transom light above
- The placement and size of the chimney

Other character-defining elements include:
- The location of the home facing on to King Square