Your typical P.E.I. home is pretty generic and alike most other off Island homes. Most houses are split down the middle when it comes to what they are made of. Half of them, tending to be more modern homes, are made of vinyl siding. The other half are made of wood. This could be contributed towards the large abundance of wood that is available for building in the Maritime Provinces. Houses on P.E.I. tend to be a size that would fit 3 or 4 bedrooms, or a 4 to 6 person family. Your typical Island house would successfully fill all of the tenants’ physical needs, along with all of the psychological needs depending on the scale of the house.
When inside a P.E.I. house, you would notice that they may have a few main rooms. A kitchen, family room or den, bathroom, bedrooms and maybe a basement could be included in a typical home. The rooms in an Island house may follow the same layouts as any other mainland house, but are set apart by a few key features or aspects of living. An Island home may have a mud room, an area where perhaps children could take off their snow gear after coming inside from the snow. An off Island home may not have this because they would either be in a more urban setting than somewhere on P.E.I. or somewhere where it doesn’t snow. A lot of Island homes also tend to connect their kitchens and family rooms, and this may be because Islanders are very family oriented, or for hosting reasons which will be explained in the next paragraph.
Prince Edward Island families are tight knit and family oriented. There is a psychological sense of belonging that is being fulfilled by just being in your own P.E.I. home. Our homes are very welcoming and you feel a sense of identity whilst in one. If you go to someone’s house there are some typical traditions that were created years ago that are still present today. If you were at a party, women would typically hang around the kitchen area of the house. This may seem a bit outdated or old fashioned but for some reason it is still kind of like that today. Men may hang around the family room area or near a television or fireplace. There aren’t any very significant things in P.E.I. homes that separate them from off-Island homes. In the end, both may provide the person living there with a means of air, sunlight, provide shelter, a place to sleep, prepare food, and feel safe.
Hendog's Crib 