Formal Recognition Type
Municipal Heritage Building Structure or Land
Heritage Value
Rabbitts House has been designated a municipal heritage site by the Town of Heart’s Content due to its historic and aesthetic value.
Two possible dates have been suggested for the construction of the Rabbitts House – the first decade of the 1900s or sometime in the 1920s. If the former, it was most likely built for Malcolm Archibald Rabbitts (who went by Archibald). If the latter, it was most likely built for Archibald’s son William, who was married sometime between 1921 and 1925. Archibald was married 3 times. His first wife Mary E. Jane Hopkins died in 1903, his second wife Martha Coulton Boyd died in 1916, and his third wife Laura Leslie died in 1925. Archibald died in 1927. It could be possible that he built the house after the death of his first wife. It could also be possible that William built the house before he was married, which would put the date of construction sometime in the early 1920s. Renovation work on the interior uncovered boards that had “M A Rabbitts Heart’s Content” written on them. While this could suggest that the house was built for Archibald, it might also mean that he was present on site during construction or that materials for the construction of his son’s house were delivered to “M A Rabbitts Heart’s Content.”
Both Archibald and William were employed in the Heart’s Content telegraph station. Archibald’s will identifies him as a telegraphist. Archibald was an active member of the community’s Methodist congregation. He was appointed to Heart’s Content Methodist Board of Education in 1900 and served on the board into the 1920s. Archibald was listed on the 1921 census as living in Heart’s Content but passed away on February 4, 1927 in Vancouver, BC. It is unknown if he was visiting or had moved there.
His son William was identified as a telegraph operator when he enlisted to the First Newfoundland Regiment in 1917. He served in the Regiment for 579 days and returned to Heart’s Content, where he was living with his father and stepmother Laura in 1921. The 1935 census records him as living in Heart’s Content with his wife Frederica Farnham and ten year old daughter Laura. By 1945 the family had moved to Mayor Avenue in St. John’s, where William was an employee of CN Telegraph. Frederica died in 1951 at the age of 47 and William died in 1954 at 57. Both are commemorated (with their daughter Laura Rabbitts Erwin and her husband James) on a headstone in Mount Pleasant Cemetery, Toronto. Laura had married in 1946 and moved to Toronto. It is unknown if her parents had also moved there.
The Rabbitts House has aesthetic value as a vernacular interpretation of the Craftsman style. Inspired by the Arts and Crafts movement, the style gained popularity in Newfoundland in the early 20th century. Standing one-and-a-half storeys tall, the Rabbitts House utilizes many features of the style, including a front-facing gable, mid-pitched roof, dormers, exposed rafters under the large overhanging eaves, eave brackets on the gables, multi-paned windows, and a covered front porch.
Source: Town of Heart’s Content Regular Council Meeting, Motion #71-21, July 22, 2021.
Character Defining Elements
All original features of the house which relate to the age and style including:
-one-and-a-half-storey height;
-mid-pitch roof;
-exposed rafters under the large overhanging eaves;
-eave brackets on the gables,
-peaked dormers on each roof slope;
-chimney size, style and placement;
-narrow wooden clapboard;
-wooden corner boards and other wooden trims;
-size, style, trim and placement of wooden multi-paned windows;
-size, style, trim and placement of exterior wooden doors, including sidelights and transom on front door;
-size, style, trim and location of covered front porch;
-dimension, location and orientation of building.
Google map
Town of Heart's Content Website
