Detailed review by LovesTravel
On a far edge of the North American continent, where Prince Edward Island meets the Gulf of St. Lawrence, a small farm has served as the wholesome base from which generations of girls have drawn inspiration. Now known as Green Gables Heritage Place, this farm provided L.M. (i.e., Lucy Maud) Montgomery with the model for Anne’s home in the series of books that began with Anne of Green Gables, first published in 1908. Now, despite a very limited season, it attracts more than 200,000 visitors annually.
WHAT AND WHERE IT IS
Green Gables Heritage Place is a small but vital corner of Canada’s Prince Edward Island National Park. Located at Cavendish, PEI, the site itself was once a working farm belonging to the Macneill family, Maud Montgomery’s cousins (various times removed) through her paternal grandfather. Although the young Maud never lived at Green Gables, she stayed there often as a member of the family and she wandered the nearby woods and hollow at her pleasure.
Today the site includes the house, barn, various outbuildings, the Haunted Wood, Lovers Lane, and Balsam Hollow--all familiar and hallowed ground to Montgomery fans of all ages and cultures. The house and barn have been restored to reflect the late Victorian era featured in the Anne series as well as the Montgomery connection. The two themes intertwine to represent a way of life that was typical for relatively comfortable farmers of that era. The house and grounds are geared toward self-guided tours with knowledgeable docents available to answer questions, though more formal tours can be arranged. There is also one of those omnipresent visitor centres to provide that all-important orientation into the life and world of Maud Montgomery.
OUR VISIT
Himself and Yours Truly were at Green Gables because we had induced my 80-year-old mother to join us on our trip to the Canadian Maritimes. Mother is a Montgomery fan extraordinaire, and Green Gables was one of her choices of an outing. We started our tour with the barn, then made our way to the restored two-story white frame house and its surrounding garden, all the while meeting Anne fans from California, Oklahoma, and Japan.
In many ways, the Anne generation--that is, Anne and her contemporaries as depicted in the novels--are representative of my maternal grandmother and her life in rural America. Thus, for Mother and me, Granny’s memory was tenderly evoked throughout our visit to the house--through well-cared-for flower beds, a wood-fired iron cook stove, hand-stitched quilts and toss pillows, oil lamps for nighttime lighting, and chamber pots tucked conveniently under each bedstead. We reminisced over butter churns and high-buttoned shoes, pole beans and posies, milk pails and horse-drawn buggies--all of which we had experienced long ago, either indirectly through stories told by my grandmother or directly through holdovers that characterized her home. In many ways, the farmhouse was Granny’s world as a young girl, and we happily connected with her during our time at Green Gables.
Next we wandered though the front gate, down the path, and across a brook into the Haunted Wood. Even more than the house, which Mother and I procured for the sake of our own memories, Montgomery loved the landscape of rural Cavendish and used that landscape to define Anne’s world. By entering the Haunted Wood east of the house, we truly began to share that world. On paths (1.6 km round trip) surrounded by a grove of tall, spindly spruce filled with a scattering of eerie sounds, it was easy to see why Maud and her friends imagined the wood was haunted. The gloom of the Haunted Wood is palpable even under the bright light of an autumn sun, which for us reflected against the thin trunks of living trees rising above a tangle of deadfall—all with relatively little undergrowth to soften the impact of the tangle of harsh angles. Little wonder that Anne and her friends imagined “harrowing things, like a white lady walking along the brook at night, wringing her hands and wailing, one can’t be too surprised. The austere backdrop of the Haunted Wood supports just this type of imagery.
On the south side of the house, Lover’s Lane and Balsam Hollow Trail (1-km round trip) provide a marked contrast to the Haunted Wood. The combination of an idyllic country lane and the lushness of the hollow replace the phantom images of the Wood with pleasant views that include a rich variety of local flora. The relative stillness of Wood is replaced in the Hollow by the sounds of running water, birdsong, and small creatures scampering in the undergrowth. The Hollow trail crosses a number of small brooks as it leads walkers down into and back up from the shallow hollow.
Both trails include a number of interpretive signs, providing walkers with information about local plant and animal life and linking the sites with L.M. Montgomery’s writings. Lots of rustic benches are provided to encourage resting and looking, but neither trail (or the second floor of the house) meets Canadian standards to qualify as accessible for the physically handicapped. The first floor of the house, the visitors’ center, and all other buildings on the site do qualify.
Picnics areas are provided for those catching a fine day to eat outdoors, as we did, and there is a small onsite restaurant, The Butter Churn Café, which we did not visit. The gift shop is filled to the rafters with a variety of Green Gables offerings--including Montgomery’s books. The three of us dropped a tidy sum there, but we subsequently found most of the same items elsewhere on the island--and often at lower prices. Still, the inventory and the convenience were undoubtedly appealing
WHEREFORES AND BY-THE-WAYS
Green Gables Heritage Place is near the North Shore of Prince Edward Island, about 50 km from Charlottetown, where the nearest major airport is located. From Charlottetown, travel west on Route 2 to Hunter River (30 km). In Hunter River, turn right onto Route 13 to Cavendish (20 km), then turn left onto Route 6. The entrance to Green Gables is located about 250 m from the intersection, on the left.
We traveled to Green Gables by car from the mainland, crossing the Confederation Bridge at Borden-Carlton. Taking our directions for the a kind staff member at the PEI Tourist Information Center, we took the Trans-Canada Highway east from Borden-Carlton to Crapaud, where we took Route 13 north. Cavendish is about 55 km from Borden-Carlton, and Route 13 is a rural two-lane road that gave us wonderful views of PEI’s interior. Once you reach the site itself, ample parking is available for automobiles and tour buses.
Green Gables’ regular operating season is short, opening at the beginning of May and closing at the end of October. Check the Web site for ancillary seasons during the late fall and early spring or call 902-963-7874.
We visited in September during the shoulder season and found the weather to be crisp by our Yank standards, but otherwise sunny and pleasant. Crowd levels were small to moderate, allowing us the opportunity to commune with the site itself rather than worry about tripping over too many fellow visitors.
Fees vary according to several factors, in particular by the age of the visitor and time of year. Visit the Green Gables Web Site for a current tariff schedule.
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Site grounds include a number of trails, some of which will challenge disabled visitors. A visit to the house includes stairs to and from the upper floor. There is no elevator or stairlift available.
