Formal Recognition Type

Registered Heritage Structure

Heritage Value

The Loveridge House was designated a Registered Heritage Structure by the Heritage Foundation of Newfoundland and Labrador in 1993 because of its aesthetic and historic values.

The Loveridge House has aesthetic value as it is a rare example of a 19th century house type. Its style and design is unique both in the community of Twillingate and in the province. While it features a symmetrical three bay facade, rather than having the main entrance located on this facade, it is located in a side porch built onto the left gable end. A second entrance is located in the back porch, or back linhay, a common architectural feature of contemporaneous homes in Newfoundland and Labrador. Of the structure’s more distinctive features are the five peaked dormer windows, an uncommon design in older homes of Twillingate but an accepted feature of similar homes of the same time period in other parts of the province. Three of the dormers are on the front facade while the other two are on the rear of the house.

The Loveridge House has historic value because of its age and its association with several prominent owners who made significant contributions to the social and cultural development of Twillingate. It is believed that the house was built by Mr. Peter Samways, the first recorded owner of the house, sometime between 1850 and 1880. This would make it one of the oldest private residences in Twillingate and surrounding area. Historic records gathered to date indicate that in the 19th century Mr. Peter Samways was an influential community member. A native of Poole, England he was very active in the Methodist church and local educational institutions.

In 1915, Henry T. Ford bought the house. He ran a photography studio from the location and also operated an inn there. Generations of the Ford family worked for the Hudson’s Bay Company in Labrador, including Henry, who worked as a Hudson Bay Company Agent and Interpreter. Henry’s widowed sister Sarah Elizabeth Ford ran the Ford Hotel at the home from 1915 to 1920. The hotel was a popular stopover for HBC agents heading north and for sea captains. Henry and Sarah grew up at the HBC post in Nachvak, run by their father, George Ford, and mother, Harriet Mayweather, who was of Inuit descent. In 1906 Sarah married her distant cousin William Ford, an HBC agent. During their marriage, the couple lived at HBC posts in the eastern Arctic in Ungava Bay and Baffin Island. After William’s death by drowning in 1913, Sarah moved to Newfoundland, where she eventually settled in Twillingate, running the Ford Hotel. In her later years, Sarah became a lecturer in the United States, recounting her early life in the Arctic and going by the Inuit name Anauta. The novel “Land of the Good Shadows,” written by Heluiz Chandler Washbourne in 1940, is a fictional account loosely based on Sarah Ford’s life.

A later owner Malcolm G. Loveridge was a well-known, respected member of the community as well and was quite active in that regard. He was a member of the Twillingate Memorial Hospital board of directors for many years and he and his wife Agnes participated in other organizations devoted to the well-being and development of the area.

Source: Heritage Foundation of Newfoundland and Labrador property file “Twillingate – Loveridge House – FPT 638”

Character Defining Elements

All those features which speak to the age and vernacular design of the building, including:
-steep gable roof;
-return on eaves;
-chimney style and placement;
-moulded fascia;
-number of storeys;
-narrow wooden clapboard;
-wooden corner boards;
-wooden window size, style, trim and placement;
-five peaked dormer windows;
-dormer size, style, trim and placement;
-wooden dormer window size, style, trim and placement;
-size, style, trim and placement of exterior wooden doors;
-size, style and location of porch on left gable end;
-size, style and location of linhay (rear addition) on rear facade; and
-dimension, location and orientation of building.

Community

Twillingate

Municipality

Town of Twillingate

Civic Address

Pippy's Lane, Northside

Construction (circa)

1850 - 1880

Builder

Peter Samways (possibly)

Style

Rectangular Long Façade