Quince Tree Cottage formerly known as the Ricker House was Argyle's first heritage home. The cottage is the first house that one sees when driving onto Roberts Island has always been known as the "Ricker House" and was owned by members of the Ricker family until 1983. The house was built originally for William Ricker around 1855. He and his brother Andrew Ricker probably carried out, or supervised the building, themselves. Both Ricker brothers were shipbuilders, and this house was obviously built on this site because of its proximity to the two Ricker shipyards that were located on the shores nearby.
These shipyards operated from the early 1840s until 1879. A large number of vessels were built in these two yards. One of the brigs built in this yard was the "Zone." It was sold to men in Yarmouth, a group of "forty-niners", who sailed out of Yarmouth on Dec. 18, 1849, for the long journey around Cape Horn. Capt. George Bond was master for the journey, and he and his fellow companions were responding of course, to the tales of California gold.
Some of the other vessels built in the Ricker yards were the schooner "Liberty" in 1853; the brig "Lizzie Ryder" in 1863; the schooner "Azora" in 1870; the schooner "Zuave" in 1877; and many others, too numerous to list here.
William Ricker lived in his home here all during the busy days of shipbuilding. It must have been an exciting time, and an exciting place to live, with all of the activity associated with such an industry only a short distance from his front yard.
William Ricker was born on July 7, 1824, the son of Ebenezer Ricker and Lucy Frost. His great-grand-father Nathaniel Ricker Sr. had been one of the first settlers to the Argyle area, arriving there in the fall of 1761. William Ricker was married around 1852, and he probably lived with either his parents or his brother Andrew for one or two years before building this home. He died in the year 1896.
In 1893 William Ricker deeded his house and land here to his daughter Lennie Ricker. She was a single woman and lived on here for a number of years. At her death, she willed the property to her cousin Jackson Ricker. Jackson Ricker lived elsewhere but maintained ownership of this house from 1917 to 1927. He was the author of the well known Historical Sketches of Glenwood and the Argyles. In 1927 Jackson Ricker deeded this property to his daughters.
For much of the time that Jackson Ricker and his daughters owned the house it was rented out. The schoolhouse for Glenwood and Roberts Island was situated on land next to this house for many years, and a number of teachers who taught at the school rented this house next door. For many years the house was occupied by a LeBlanc family, and in 1957 the house was rented out as a store and living quarter's to men employed in building one of the nearby dykes.
Throughout the 1960s and on into the early 1980s,Helen Ricker, Elizabeth Lewis and Charlotte Killam all daughters of Jackson Ricker, made this their summer home, while spending the colder winter months in Yarmouth.
In 1983 Helen Ricker and Elizabeth Lewis sold the house to Ruth Blake. Mrs. Blake's maternal great-grandmother was Eleanora Ricker who was married to Elihu Whitehouse of Roberts Island, and she would have been a niece of William Ricker, the original owner of the house. So even though for the first time, someone with a name other than Ricker owns the property, it is still in the possession of a descendant of the Ricker family.
The house is an attractive one, built on the side of a hill, with the trees and forest rising behind it. It is a very long structure with a five bay facade and an off-centre doorway. The doorway is ornamented by sidelights and a large plain angled hood All of the windows have these same very plain but attractive hoods as well. The exterior is covered with wooden clapboard siding. The pedimented dormers on this house were not built on until 1907, but have made a pleasing addition.
The house has been altered very little over the years, and is very much a landmark in the Glenwood Roberts Island community. Ruth Blake, the current owner, was concerned that the house be maintained in its original state, not only by her but by any subsequent owners. She was the first owner of a private dwelling in Argyle Municipality to apply to have her house registered as a Municipal Heritage Property. The house was declared as such by the Municipal Council in 1985. Its unaltered state and its long connection with one of Yarmouth County's first and founding families, make this house an important heritage property and one well worth preserving.
