At the end of Andrea and Brian Hill’s red clay lane in Cavendish, P.E.I., you are welcomed by a little painted sign that reads, “The Old School House.” If you continue along the tree-lined path, you’ll come to the family’s summer home — a 19th-century schoolhouse that’s been in Andrea’s family for more than 40 years.
Quaint, picturesque, and serene are words that describe the cottage today. On almost a hectare of forested land near the Cavendish golf course, it’s nestled amongst large overhanging trees in a whimsical and cozy setting. There’s a swing hanging from an old oak tree, and you’ll find many Anne of Green Gables-style hats hanging about.
“But in case you’re wondering, Lucy Maud Montgomery didn’t teach at this school,” Andrea laughs. “I wish we could claim that fame, but she didn’t teach French.”
Originally the St. Ignatius School for Acadian students, the roughly 500-square-foot building opened around 1845 and operated until 1952. In 1953, a local couple, Dr. J.P. Miller and his wife, Vera, moved the structure from its original location in Mayfield to Cavendish, where they used it as a summer home.
“They wanted to preserve the school’s heritage and structure, which was wonderful,” says Andrea. “It was quite a big deal back then to move a building that far.”
The drive between Mayfield and Cavendish takes about 20 minutes today, but travel was harder 70 years ago, and the move wasn’t without mishaps. The original cloak room, where the kids would have taken off their coats and boots, didn’t survive the relocation.
Andrea’s parents, Gerard and Sonia Dalton, bought the cottage in the 1980s.
“It was very rustic when my parents got it. They did a lot of work on it. They raised the cottage onto a proper foundation, built an extension on the back and my mother restored the interior to have the schoolhouse feel.”
Andrea spent a great deal of time at the cottage growing up, and 15 years ago, she and Brian took ownership. It was very important to them to keep it in the family and preserve their little piece of island history. One day, she says, they’ll pass the cottage on to their son Samuel.
Although it has been a cottage for as long as it was an educational centre, its “old-school charm” is still apparent. The windows are the original schoolhouse rippled glass. The wainscotting is also the same and hasn’t been painted since the ’50s. The cottage is decorated with antiques and vintage items Andrea and her mother found at local flea markets: vintage books, pottery, antique school slates, a school bell, and even an old school desk.
“I look for things that go with the theme,” Andrea explains.
The cottage also still has the school’s original sign on a wall above the door. “Mrs. Miller doctored it up when she lived here,” Andrea says. “She had painted over the ‘St.’ on the sign and my mother added it back to its original St. Ignatius.”
Andrea remembers two elderly sisters coming to visit a few years ago who had attended the school as children.
“They remembered a wood stove,” she says. “It was a pot-bellied stove in the centre of the room, so the heat radiated out. One of the sisters recalled being sick and the teacher making her sit near the stove all day to stay warm.”
When it came to upgrades over the years, the family was careful to keep the cottage’s original integrity wherever they could.
“With a one-room schoolhouse, you don’t want to chop it up. My parents added the extension with a bedroom and bathroom but left the main space the same. Six years ago, we added a green steel roof, which still matches the old style.”
Andrea loves to garden and has created many flower beds throughout the property. Last year, they added on a new deck with built-in benches, in keeping with the school theme. The cottage’s large windows offer an abundance of natural light that is perfect for an artist’s workspace. Interestingly, both Mrs. Miller and Andrea’s father, Gerard Dalton, 90, who still lives in Summerside, were both artists.
“The cottage meant a lot to my father. He loved the tranquility of living in the woods. He painted watercolours here for 30 years, including many of the cottage itself.”
Although Andrea grew up on P.E.I., she and her family now live in Calgary but return to the island every summer.
Andrea stages homes and Brian is an engineer. They can’t wait until they can retire and spend their entire summers on P.E.I. Samuel has been working summers on the island as a commis chef at a local restaurant and plans to continue his studies in the Maritimes.
“It’s always so nice to come home each year,” says Andrea. “We have lots of memories in this little family cottage.”