Actually, the house is basically L-shaped, a plan common in dozens of simpler one-and-a-half storey houses of the 1870s and 80s. Here master builder J.W Fegan adapted the basic design to two full storeys with a tower. He also added plenty of detail, including twelve gables, to offset the general massiveness of the building.
As master builder, Fegan would be responsible for the building's design and participate directly in its construction. By today's standards, he could be described as halfway between a professional architect and a building contractor. Unfortunately, little is known of Fegan or of the houses he built, although there is a John W Fegan (died at age sixty) buried in the churchyard at Old St Mary Magdalene. There is no reference to him in the directories of the time.
In contrast, there is far more information available about Edwards Merrill, the man who was first to live in the multi-gabled house. Beldens atlas of 1878 states that Merrill's grandfather had emigrated from Connecticut sometime after 1800, settling in Kingston. His son, Samuel, moved to Picton in the 1820s and is said to have been the town's first lawyer. Brock's directory shows that he was still practising in 1866. Edwards (born 1841 in Picton)was the eighth of Samuel's eleven children. He was called to the bar in 1867 and practised law in Picton for most of his professional life.
Edwards Merrill purchased the lot on which his house now stands from the Washburn farm for $750 in November of 1877. His house was completed in time to be illustrated in Belden's atlas, but he was not to live there for long. He sold the property for $4,600 in August of 1878 to Peter and George McKenzie, neither of whom ever appears to have lived there.
About this time, Merrill purchased a lot with a panoramic view of the harbour at the corner of Johnson and Hill Streets. The house he built there clearly imitates his larger residence on Main Street. Included once again are the narrow windows and the use of several tall gables, only nine this time, all with delicate bargeboard. The similarities between the two are significant enough that it is tempting to assume that J.W Fegan was again the master builder. Merrill's widow, Caroline, held the Hill Street property until 1921, by which time she had moved to Toronto. The house was sold to Albert Vandusen; most people remember the house as the Vandusen Home for handicapped children, which ceased operation in 1982. (taken from T Cruickshank & PJ. Stokes, The Settler's Dream: A Pictorial History of the Older Buildings of Prince Edward County. Picton, Ontario: 1984)
In the late 1980s, the Merrill house was renovated into a charming inn with a total of 15 guest rooms. Currently, the Merrill Inn has undergone further renovations to incorporate an English-style pub with outdoor patio. "The Local" serves traditional pub fare and is home to a fine selection of malts and ales to wet the whistle of many a passer-by.