Newfoundland & Labrador's Registered Heritage Structures

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Although no one knows the exact date of its construction, Loveridge House is still considered one of the oldest private residences in the community of Twillingate.

© 1998 Heritage Foundation of Newfoundland and Labrador (22 KB)

It is believed that the house was built by Mr. Peter Samways, the first recorded owner of the house, sometime between 1850 and 1880. 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. Samways sold the house to the Patten family in 1907. In 1915, Henry T. Ford bought the house. He ran a photography studio from the location and also operated an inn there. Generations of Ford's worked for the Hudson's Bay Company (HBC) in the north and Henry also followed the call. He resold the house to Arthur Ashbourne, a prominent local merchant, in 1921. In 1938 Malcolm G. Loveridge bought the dwelling.

Perhaps the most intriguing resident of the house was Henry Ford's widowed sister, Sarah. She ran the Ford Hotel from 1915 to 1921. The hotel was a popular stopover for HBC agents heading north and for sea captains. Sarah herself had been born at a HBC post on Baffin Island and later married a HBC agent, her distant cousin William Ford. Sarah's mother was of Inuit descent and Sarah was raised in this tradition. She was known by her Inuit name, Anuata, and later became the heroine of a novel based on her life, Land of the Good Shadows, written by Heluiz Chandler Washbourne in 1940.

© 2004 Heritage Foundation of Newfoundland and Labrador (36 KB)

The Loveridges may not be as well known internationally as Anuata, but they were well known within Twillingate. Malcolm was a member of the Twillingate Memorial Hospital board of directors and he and his wife Agnes participated in other organizations devoted to the well-being and development of the area.

The style and design of the Loveridge House are 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 was recognised as a Registered Heritage Structure in May 1993.

Updated February, 2005