On November 15th 2010 an illustrated lecture called A Moving Experience: Reuse, Recycle & Relocate, was presented at Beaconsfield Carriage House by myself (Ian Scott) and Catherine Hennessey as part of the Island History course for Seniors College of PEI. Catherine had served as the first executive director of the PEI Heritage Foundation in 1970 and I assumed the role in 1983 when the organization was known as the PEI Museum & Heritage Foundation. We both shared an interest in historic buildings that had been moved from their original location on PEI and decided to collaborate.
In researching the talk we realized that several buildings had been moved more than one time. The building that appears to hold the title as having moved the most times caught my imagination and continues to intrigue me for both the architectural gem it is, as well as the social history that surrounds it over the generations. It was named The Playhouse, and is known as a "she" much like boats are known by a feminine pronoun. Perhaps the various waterfront locations on PEI she has called home should be called her ports-of-call. Seven locations to date, shows the determination of family members to preserve the structure for posterity. The current owner summed up the generations of connections her family has had to the building, "The Playhouse will forever be strong in our hearts."
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| The Playhouse when located on the banks of the Montague River |
The Playhouse, began life in 1907 when Edgewater was being constructed for the Frank Heartz family at 7 West St. in Charlottetown. Built with remaining trims and materials from the platial Edgewater on a waterfront lot that now houses three city residences, it had its own stove and mantlepiece and varnished woodwork. Designed for their daughter Ruth and her friends, it continued to serve a variety of uses including being one of the first craft shops on PEI. It was during the early years on West St. that it would establish a connection to Government House.
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| Interior of The Playhouse |
Honourable Frank Richard Heartz, is remembered as the Island’s 25th Lieutenant Governor having served from 1924 to 1930, a period of time between the wars when Fanningbank was not available or suitable to serve as Government House. The house and grounds had been turned over for use as a convalescent home for WW I casualties, with the construction of a second building on the grounds for similar purposes which had then been repurposed as a vocational school with an emphasis on veterans. While there were various views on what Fanningbank could be used for in the future, it was under Frank Heartz leadership that the restoration of the house and its return to use as Government House was undertaken.
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| Interior of The Playhouse |
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Meanwhile when Fanningbank was serving these other purposes, a pattern similar to the period prior to 1834 became the default, and like the early governors who carried out the functions of a Government House prior to the construction of the current building in other facilities, Frank Heartz has a perfect solution nearby in Edgewater which had the reception rooms, large grounds as well as a playhouse for younger visitors. Thus Edgewater served as Government House in the interim.
The year after completing his term of office a massive fire in 1931 destroyed Edgewater but amazingly The Playhouse survived with only blistering of paint. It was from the banks of Charlottetown harbour that she would be launched into a journey with the family to their cottage at Grand Tracadie and a new role as a craft shop featuring the pottery of Mary Allison Doull.
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| Interior of The Playhouse |
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While the tradition of reuse and moving of buildings the documenting of these structures is less well known on PEI as it is in communities like Fogo Island due to a book called,
Tilting: House Launching, Slide Hauling, Potato Trenching and Other Tales from a Newfoundland Fishing Village is truly one of the most engaging books I have read to-date on the relationship between culture and architecture as told through the individual actions to reuse buildings as needed.
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