Dalvay-by-the-sea is a window into P.E.I.’S rich history
From a rum-running smuggler to failed princesses, 19th-century estate has had many colourful owners
STANHOPE, P.E.I.— If the walls of the Dalvay-by-the-Sea Hotel could talk, they would tell stories of a Scottish gardener turned oil baron, two little girls who grew up to be princesses, a Montreal bishop, a prohibition rum-runner and more.
For years, former Dalvay operators David and Michelle Thompson took on the self-imposed, but rewarding, duty of sharing the stories of this historic hotel and the people who once called it home with visitors from all over the world through personally guided tours.
In honour of that, they were recently presented with the 2012 Parks Canada Sustainable Tourism Award in acknowledgment of their 35-year-plus commitment to Dalvay-by-the-Sea by managing the hotel while respecting the cultural fabric of this important National Historic Site.
“It was an amazing story and it’s a story that people like,” says Michelle, who undertook extensive research on the original builders of Dalvay and sought out early photos and other memorabilia to learn more about the past owners.
“The place really spoke to me, so I started doing the organization of the interpretive programs. I felt it was really important that people understood it. There is so much history in that place.”
Dalvay started out as a private summer home for Alexander McDonald, who hailed from Forres, Morayshire, Scotland, where he was a gardener at the original Dalvay estate, where his family members were longtime labourers.
An extensive history compiled and written by the Thompsons details that Mcdonald immigrated to the United States in 1851 and made a fortune in the oil industry. Mcdonald wed Laura Palmer in 1862. The couple lost a son in infancy, but their daughter, also named Laura, grew up, married and had two daughters before her untimely death in 1895.
They came to PE.I. that summer as a way to heal from their loss.
“They came to this place, it spoke to them and Mrs. Mcdonald said, ‘This is where we’re going to build a summer home in honour of our daughter, and we will spend every summer here,’ ” Michelle says.
A year later, Dalvay was built on a 48-hectare parcel of land, fronted by an impressive lake. It cost close to $50,000 to build and $10,000 a year to operate, with a staff that included a large number of servants, cooks, housemaids, a gardener, two butlers, two laundresses, a caretaker and two men to look after the horses and stable. Water and power were supplied to the house by a series of windmills.
“He named the house Dalvay-bythe-sea in memory of his childhood home in Scotland and his permanent home in Cincinnati, Ohio, ” Michelle says.
When Mcdonald died in 1910, his extensive estate, which was worth about $15 million, was left to his two granddaughters. Helena and Laura, who were in their late teens at the time. Both girls later married princes: Helena wed Prince Murat of France; Laura wed Prince Rospigliosi of Italy. Both couples eventually divorced. After their father, Edmund Stalla, made some bad investments on their behalf and their fortune disappeared, the princesses sold the house to the caretaker, William Hughes, for the amount owing in back taxes: $486.57. Dalvay changed hands several times after that, becoming the property of William O’Leary of Charlottetown, who lent it to his brother, Bishop O’Leary from Montreal, who used it as a retreat. Then came the infamous prohibition rum-runner, Capt. Edwa3rd Dicks, who turned the house into a hotel in 1931 to hide his smuggling activities. That business scheme didn’t float, so Dalvay became the property of one of his creditors, George DeBlois, a former P.E.I. lieutenant governor. In 1937, Dalvay shifted from a private home to a publicly owned operation when DeBlois sold it to the federal government to be part of P.E.I.’s new national park system. Various people operated it as a hotel on a private-lease basis, including David Thompson’s Swiss-born grandparents, Raoul and Marguerite Reymond. David’s turn at the helm of this iconic hotel came in 1976 after his grandparents retired. His longtime friend Wayne Berry came onboard a year later. Michelle arrived in 1992. “I saw this place and said, ‘This is where I’m going to spend the rest of my life,’ ” she said, laughing.
“Or a big chunk of it anyway,” her husband adds with a grin.
Dalvay-by-the-Sea’s impressive Queen Anne Revival style has not only withstood the test of time, but its more recent expansions were masterfully designed to seamlessly slip into the landscape as if they’d been there since the beginning.
The Dalvay story-sharing tradition started in 1994 as part of an afternoon tea and tour, primarily with passengers from cruise ships.
Last year, the Thompsons handed over the keys to Dalvay’s new operator, D.P. Murphy Hotels and Resorts, bringing an end to that chapter of their lives.
“I think what was really great about the recognition from Parks Canada is that we lived and breathed it, David for 37 years; I was a newbie, I was only there for 22 years,” Michelle smiles.
“It just defined us in terms of that building and how people felt about it and what their experience was on the Island and tourism.” For more information, go to dalvaybythesea.com.