Our home is known locally as Dr. Roddie’s House after the well known family physician, Dr. Roderick MacDonald, who lived in the house and practiced medicine from what is now the living room for 69 years. The house was reportedly built in 1847 and moved to its current location a few years later. In 1891 Dr. Roddie MacDonald purchased the house and added the bellcast mansard roof, the corner turret, the front veranda with its decorative gingerbread, and a rear wing to the house. Dr. Roddie and his wife, Josephine, raised seven children in the house. It also served as his office until he retired at the age of 97. He died in 1961 at the age of 103.

In his lifetime, his recognition as an outstanding physician was not just limited to the area surrounding St. Peters Bay. Dr. Roddie was presented with a papal knighthood, the highest honour available for a lay person in the Catholic Church. Also, in 1958, the Canadian Medical Association recognized him as “Physician of the Century”, and as “Dean of Canada’s Physicians”.

After Dr. Roddie’s death in 1961, his son, Colin, and daughter Jean, neither of whom ever married, lived in the house until Colin’s death in mid 1990s. At that time, Jean moved to a seniors’ complex and the house was sold. The new owners undertook a complete renovation of the interior of the house while maintaining its distinctive character. The wide moldings, ceiling medallions, and classic wainscoting offer decorative features not usually found in today’s homes. Though they remained true to the historic nature of the house, they added several windows to the front of the house, and extended the rear wing about ten feet. If you look at a photograph of the house in the book on Historic Houses of PEI, you can see a photo of the front of the house before the renovation. The house is listed on Prince Edward Island’s Registry of Historic Houses.

In 2003, we bought the house and have made it our home. Now, we wish to share our beautiful home with visitors to PEI and offer it for weekly vacation rentals in the summer. We welcome our guests and wish them a comfortable and relaxing stay in our home.