THE HEAVY LIFTERS - Stanstead College

Securing a Piece of
Local Heritage
For over 130 years we've been neighbours. Now Stanstead
College and Broadview are family.
Early last fall, the College purchased the house next door,
known familiarly as the Butters House. Constructed in 1866,
the Italianate residence is a landmark on Stanstead's picturesque
Dufferin Street. For the past eight years, it has been
owned by Wayne Ross and Jeanne Martin.
Stanstead College owns properties behind and on both sides
of the Butters House. Purchasing the home enhances the overall
look of the campus, said Headmaster Michael Wolfe.
"Thanks to Mr. Ross, the house is in excellent
shape," he said. "It's a true architectural gem. The
College's staff and resources will ensure that this
piece of local heritage is properly maintained
and preserved."
Plans for the building are not yet finalized but
will include housing the school's Office of
Advancement and Alumni Affairs. It may also
be used in part for staff housing as well as the
school's historical archives.
Broadview was built in 1866 and served as the summer
home of Isaac Butters and Martha Pierce Butters. It was
named Broadview because at the time it was built, it had a sweeping
view of the mountains beyond Lake Memphremagog to the
west.
"Broadview is expansive by today's standards, but atypical of
Victorian standards," wrote Ann Scowcroft in the Stanstead
Stanstead Seminary (2007)
Charles Pierce
The Pierce Connection
Archie and Nancy Butters
14
Historical Society's Journal shortly after the Ross's purchased the
home from siblings Archie Butters and Nancy Pacaud in 1998.
"Downstairs housed a drawing room, library, music room, sitting
room and dining room; upstairs were five large bedchambers.
Then of course the tower with its round stained-glass window
spoked with eight colours. Nancy Pacaud remembers
every child - including herself - being constitutionally unable
to pass by without first being lifted to see the world through
its multiple lenses."
In 1927, the two-storey building at the back of Broadview
that had served as the kitchen, laundry and servants quarters was
transported across the street to become the home of Mary
Butters, Isaac and Martha's unmarried daughter. To compensate
for the loss of the kitchen, a new, modern one was built onto the
back of Broadview where the pantry had been.
In 2007, Stanstead College became only the third owner of this
splendid piece of Stanstead history and architecture.
The connection between the College and Broadview is greater than merely that of neighbours.
Martha Pierce Butters was a member of Stanstead's Pierce family, whose association with the school
goes back to its founding.
Martha's father was Wilder Pierce, who helped build the original Stanstead Seminary in 1829. When
Stanstead College was established in 1872, among its first directors was Charles W. Pierce, Wilder's eldest
son. He remained a director until his death.
In 1901, Mary F. Pierce (Charles's sister), Mary W. Holmes (Charles's daughter and wife of Rev. A.
Lee Holmes, the school's first headmaster) and Elizabeth Pierce (Charles's daughter) donated $5000 to
establish a building and a music program in memory of Charles W. Pierce. Consequently, the Eastern
Townships Music Conservatory and Pierce Memorial Hall were established.
In 1905, sisters Mary Holmes and Elizabeth Pierce donated Sunnyside Castle to the College as a
ladies' residence.