Rural Retreat (Peach’s Farm) is a two storey, hipped roof, Georgian style house prominently located on a high hill on a large acreage of farmland in Carbonear, NL. The designation is confined to the footprint of the house.
Formal Recognition Type
Registered Heritage Structure
Heritage Value
Rural Retreat (Peach’s Farm) was designated a Registered Heritage Structure by the Heritage Foundation of Newfoundland and Labrador in 1985 due to its aesthetic and historic value.
Rural Retreat was built as a second home for merchant Robert Pack on a large plot of crown land on the outskirts of Carbonear. He had his principle residence over his merchant premises on Carbonear’s waterfront. Throughout the 19th century prominent citizens in St. John ‘s and larger towns like Carbonear and Harbour Grace constructed second homes where they could retreat from the bustle and smell of the waterfront – which was largely devoted to the making and transport of salt fish – to where they could often farm and live the life of a country gentleman. The wooden, Georgian/Regency styled frame structure has a high hipped roof with two chimneys. The hall runs along the back of the house and contains an elegant, curving stairway tucked into a bay, a somewhat unusual feature. The three main rooms on the lower level comprise a library, dining room and kitchen, which formerly had a large cooking fireplace. The sitting room appears to have been on the upper level. Decorative plaster work in the form of a classical cornice and rosettes speak to the refinement of the home.
Robert Pack was a prominent merchant born in Dorset, England, in the late 18th century. Pack’s father had captained ships between Poole, England, and Newfoundland for the English firm owned by George and James Kemp, and as a teenager in 1801, Pack moved to Newfoundland to take up an apprenticeship through the firm. In 1811 Pack partnered with George Blackler and began his own business in Bay Roberts and two years later entered into a new partnership with William Fryer of Dorset. Fryer was part of the major firm Fryer, Andrews and Company, known for financing merchants, shipowners, and planters in Newfoundland since the 1770s. In 1817 John Gosse, a Hampshire merchant with operations in Carbonear, joined Pack and Fryer. While Bay Roberts was a prospering community, it was small and did not allow for Pack to expand his end of the business, so he moved to the larger centre of Carbonear. The three businessmen already had their own respective successful ventures, and now as a combined unit they had dealings in Bay Roberts, Carbonear, Brigus, the Labrador fishery and the seal hunt, making Pack, Gosse and Fryer one of the largest firms in the area. The Kemp brothers closed their business in the 1820s, making Pack’s operation the largest in Carbonear for the next 30 years.
Pack was also involved in the political scene in Newfoundland. He was a strong supporter of Representative Government in Newfoundland and greater autonomy from England in managing the colony’s affairs. He was elected as a Liberal in 1832 in Newfoundland’s first government under Representative Government and again in 1836. That Pack, a Protestant, ran as a Liberal was somewhat unusual given the party’s strong association with Irish-Catholics. Pack ceased his business dealings in 1858 and remained in Carbonear until his death in 1860.
The property was bought by English born Methodist minister Rev. John S. Peach in 1867. Over 50 years, Peach had appointments in several Newfoundland communities, ministering in such places as Freshwater, Old Perlican, Burgeo, Grand Bank. and Twillingate. It became tradition that Sunday school picnics would be held at the farm. While he was fulfilling his church obligations his son James maintained Rural Retreat, and upon his passing in 1891 the farm was passed on to James. He carried on mixed farming until 1932 when his daughter took over the farming obligations. They provided milk and dairy products to Carbonear and the surrounding area for over 35 years.
Source: Heritage Foundation of Newfoundland and Labrador property file “Carbonear – Rural Retreat (Peach’s Farm) – FPT 1505”
Character Defining Elements
All those elements that define the 19th century farm house with Georgian style architecture, including:
-number of storeys;
-wooden frame construction;
-high hipped roof;
-two chimneys projecting from the roof ridge;
-narrow wooden clapboard;
-wooden corner boards;
-size, style, trim and placement of two-storey bay on front facade;
-size, style, trim and placement of two-storey staircase bay on rear facade;
-size, style, trim and placement of hipped porch on right facade;
-size, style, trim and placement of single hung 6/6 wooden windows;
-size, style and placement of hipped dormers;
-size, style, trim and placement of exterior wooden doors, and;
-orientation, location, dimensions of building.
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