William's House

Williams House / Flewelling's - Holderville

Deed Transfers:

James D. williams to Leonard B. Williams - 1912

Leonard B. Williams to Minnie A. Williams

Minnie A. Williams to Helen Flewelling

Outbuildings:

To the north of the house sits two outbuildings. The first, and smaller of the two was used to build small boats. The boats were built in the loft and then hauled down a ramp system to the beach once completed. The next building is a barn on which the original hand forged hardware is still visible.

History and Style:

This home was built by the Williams family, possibly before 1800. The Williams were Loyalists who built boats on the St. John River. Their home is a prime example of how buildings grew as successive generations brought new needs and challenges. The house began as a two-room cottage with a small loft. The oldest section of the house is made up of two symmetrical rooms which now serve as parlours. There was once a fireplace in the north facing room (only the mantle remains), which would indicate that it was the kitchen at one time. Like other houses built in the early days when New Brunswick’s best highways were its rivers, this home has two large front doors; one facing the river and one facing the highway. The stairway to the second floor, which is in the kitchen, was originally on the exterior of the house. Anyone wanting to go upstairs had to go outside and then back in again. The kitchen was eventually added to the south end of the house to bring the stairs inside. There is also an additional scullery on the west side of the kitchen, which creates a salt-box roof effect on the exterior, but it is not clear if this was added at the same time as the kitchen or at a later. There was also an extension of two small rooms on the north end of the house, and a small woodshed off he kitchen. The second floor has very low ceilings and four small bedrooms; the central two being enlarged through the addition of a dormer window that straddles the wall that separates them. The interior has very basic trim, except for the two front doors, which are a more decorative. All the window and door jambs on the exterior façade are decorated with intricate toothed trim, which was probably a later addition.