Reg Porter's Heritage Blog

Dear Loyal Readers, Thank you for your extraordinarily kind visits to my blog since its inception in March of 1019! Your number has passed the 125,000 mark! That is so beyond any expectations I had that it is almost beyond belief.   For some time I have not been posting any essays, although my list is extensive and work on several subjects is still in progress. I wish to end with the styles of domestic architecture current to the end of the Nineteenth Century.   Elements have entered my life to slow me down. AGE has also crept upon me and now I am a very old man, weak of…

In Part 1 of this two-part post on Regency architecture and furniture on the Island I talked about two houses – Holland Grove and the Carmichael house – that fit the criteria of the Regency style. Holland House, c. 1815 I went on to discuss in some length my belief that these houses probably were designed by the great architect of the Picturesque, John Plaw, who had moved to the Island in 1807. I based my attributions on stylistic elements from buildings he had designed in Britain and from plates in his three books written for a Regency audience. Carmichael House, c. 1820 With enthusiasm and excitement, I pointed out…

(Because of the length of this topic I have divided it into two parts. In this, the first, I will discuss Romanticism and the Regency and two Charlottetown houses, Holland Grove and the Carmichael House. There will be special emphasis on John Plaw. In the second part I will briefly discuss the kinds of furniture that went into these houses and conclude with an examination of Fairholm House.)   It is a little tricky to write about the Regency style on the Island because those years, from 1811-1820, were not particularly productive and elegant times on the Island as those early British Colonists strived to establish themselves and make a…

Great George Street, from Sydney to Dorchester Perhaps the most photographed streetscape in Charlottetown is this row of houses, all joined together, from Sydney Street to Dorchester Street. They are located at the very heart of the city, opposite the Roman Catholic property that contains Saint Dunstan’s Basilica. You get an excellent vantage view from the steps of the church. What is the reason for this phenomenon? It is a very ancient solution to making the most out of valuable and highly desirable urban frontage. In British Colonial parlance these are called ROW HOUSES. Posh versions of this for the upper classes in Britain were called TERRACES and designed by…

A Note to my readers Please remember that these essays were written, not as scholarly articles, but as if they were transcriptions of my lectures from former years. Be aware also that many of the photographs I use to carry my narrative were taken in the 1980-90 period, so these houses, if they are still standing, have for the most part been renovated so that most of the detail is lost.     The Centre Gable Architecture of Confederation inspired by the Gothic Revival Movement   Mutch House at Eldon, c. 1850-60, now demolished.   In architecture, and art in general, nothing ever stands still. The frontispiece house, which required…