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Edward Maxwell House (Tillietudlem)(2/1900) 434 Bar Road, Saint-Andrews, NB, Canada Residential, Country house [2 floors, 2 bedrooms]; wood; wall bearing Client: Edward Maxwell Description: Edward Maxwell was persuaded to purchase five acres of land opposite Minister’s Island in Saint-Andrews by one of his clients, Sir William Van Horne. The place was well suited for a summer retreat and Edward decided to build a country house for his family. The two-storey Shingle style house called Tillietudlem evolved in stages as Edward’s family grew and additions were made many times. The birth of each child served as a pretext to build a new wing or new building. Edward also designed the boats Jeanita, named after his daughter Jean, and Old Glory. Edward’s wife, Elizabeth, preferred this house to the country house Maxwelton at Baie d’Urfé right from the beginning.
The house when built was just a rectangular building with a high tower in the service wing and a canopy supported by short flagstaff on the principal façade. This gave a pleasing look of the building in the midst of natural vegetation. The house underwent additions and alterations, particularly during 1899-1908 when Edward’s family grew with arrival of Blythe (1900), Jean (1903), Stirling (1905) and Elizabeth (1908). Two-storey bay windows were added, and a verandah, covered by a gable and opened by French doors onto a balcony. This is one thing which Edward was fond of, and he had used versions of it many times since his return from Boston. Presently, the hall is located behind the western front and gives access to the dining room on one side; and the large drawing room, flanked by a library and a morning room, on the other. But the most distinct feature of addition was the oval dining room, which Edward adopted in many of his designs. Edward introduced this oval room in 1897 when he built his own house on Côte-Saint-Antoine Road in Westmount. According to a critic, this feature was described as ''a pleasant space to experience and … the essence of what mattered to Maxwell.'' The decorative mural paintings done in 1899 above the fireplace are another important aspect of Tillietudlem. This feature has been used by Edward frequently such as in the Charles Proteous House also known as Les Groisardières on the Isle d’ Orléans, where the dining room and halls were decorated with murals depicting rural scenes, and at the Davis House in Montreal, where the billiard room features Maurice Cullen murals of sixteenth-century scenes.
The house was first surrounded by a country wooden fence and was enhanced by in the 1920s by an exquisite wrought iron gate. Several service buildings were added with long shingled roofs. The house remained in the Maxwell family until it was sold in 1985. The house is one of the best examples of the way Edward Maxwell combined the designs and materials with his imagination and talent for creating stimulating spaces. Holdings: Country house (2 floors, 2 bedrooms); wood; wall bearing | |
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