Becoming Green Gables: The Diary of Myrtle Webb and Her Famous Farmhouse

by Alan MacEachern

In 1909 Myrtle and Ernest Webb took possession of an ordinary farm in Cavendish, Prince Edward Island. Ordinary but for one it was already becoming known as inspiration for Anne of Green Gables, the novel written by Myrtle’s cousin Lucy Maud Montgomery and published to international acclaim a year earlier. The Webbs welcomed visitors to “Green Gables” and soon took in summer boarders, making their home the heart of PEI’s tourist trade. In the 1930s the farm was made the centrepiece of a new national park – and still the family lived there for another decade, caretakers of their own home.

During these years Myrtle kept a diary. When she first picked up the pencil in 1924, she was a forty-year-old homemaker running a household of eight. By the time she set the pencil down in 1954, she was a seventy-year-old widow, no longer resident in what was now the most famous house in Canada. Becoming Green Gables tells the story of Myrtle Webb and her family, and the making of Green Gables. Alan MacEachern reproduces a selection of the diary’s daily entries, using them as springboards to examine topics ranging from the adoption of modern conveniences to the home front hosting of soldiers in wartime and visits from “Aunt Maud” herself.

While the foundation of Becoming Green Gables is the Webbs’ own story, it is also a history of their famous home, their community, the nation, and the world in which they lived.

294 pages, Paperback

Published June 12, 2024

About the author

Alan MacEachern is an Associate Professor at Western University in London, Ontario, Canada and Director of Network in Canadian History & Environment (NiCHE).

Reviews

[Manybooks · Rating 5 out of 5]

In 1909 Myrtle and he husband Ernest Webb took possession of (and were finally able to purchase) a seemingly ordinary farm in Cavendish, Prince Edward Island, Canada. But well, the farmhouse in question really should in my humble opinion not be considered ordinary at all, because even in 1909, it was already becoming both nationally and internationally famous and known as the geographic, as the place inspiration for Anne of Green Gables (which had been penned by Myrtle’s third cousin Lucy Maud Montgomery and published to major acclaim a year earlier, in 1908) and that aside from the farmhouse itself, many of the localities encountered in Anne of Green Gables, such as for example Lover's Lane, can also found on or near the Webb Farm. And with the Webbs soon welcoming visitors as well as summer borders to “Green Gables” and thereby making their home and their farm the heart of the PEI tourist trade, in the 1930s, when the Webb Farm was made the centrepiece of and for a new National Park, the family still lived at "Green Gables" for another decade, quasi as paid caretakers of their own home until 1945, when upon Ernest Webb's retirement, Ernest and Myrtle were in November of that year callously and cruelly (well, at least to and for me) given less than two weeks to gather up their belongings and leave.

But yes, in the conclusion for the published in 2024 Becoming Green Gables: The Diary of Myrtle Webb and Her Famous Farmhouse, author, editor and University of Western Ontario history professor Alan MacEachern also points out that after the Webbs were kicked out, that after they were forced to leave their home, when their farm was being turned into a standard Prince Edward Island tourist attraction with all kinds of proverbial bells and whistles so to speak, Ernest, Myrtle and their children were sadly and unfortunately pretty much being absolutely ignored, were totally shoved to the periphery so to speak (and that the Webb farmhouse itself, even though it was and still is the inspiration for Anne of Green Gables and was obviously also very much loved by L.M. Montgomery herself, it was often quite denigratingly referred to by the individuals now in charge of "Green Gables" as being an insignificant cottage).

Now from 1924 until 1954 Myrtle Webb kept a simply written but detailed daily diary (and that when she started her diary, Myrtle was a forty-year-old homemaker running a household of eight and that by the time she stopped her journalling, Myrtle Webb was a seventy-year-old widow no longer residing in what is now often considered and approached as the most famous literary farmhouse in Canada). And Becoming Green Gables: The Diary of Myrtle Webb and Her Famous Farmhouse, this account basically, educationally and immensely interestingly tells the story of Myrtle Webb and her family as well as showing the making of Green Gables (and also presenting PEI and Canadian history), with MacEachern reproducing in full a selection of Myrtle Webb's daily diary entries chronologically (225 of them) and then skilfully and engagingly using these as narrational springboards for concise, easily read and interestingly penned historical and cultural essays (with Becoming Green Gables: The Diary of Myrtle Webb and Her Famous Farmhouse having Alan MacEachern showcasing and analysing diverse topics such as for example crime in Prince Edward Island during the first half of the 20th century, local and not so local scandals, the adoption of modern conveniences, the Webb farmhouse hosting soldiers during WWII and of course also focussing on multiple visits from Aunt Maud, from L.M. Montgomery herself).

And yes, and just to point out that if you are expecting and actually wanting with Becoming Green Gables: The Diary of Myrtle Webb and Her Famous Farmhouse an expansively descriptive diary experience as is (as a contrast) the case with L.M. Montgomery journals, you might in my opinion be rather disappointed, for what Myrtle Webb's pen shows in the diary entries of Becoming Green Gables: The Diary of Myrtle Webb and Her Famous Farmhouse is short, is totally unadorned and was also and obviously simply meant as something for mostly herself (unlike Montgomery, who actually expected and also wanted her journals to be published after her death). However and indeed, Myrtle's simple diary entries, combined with Alan MacEachern's accompanying commentaries, as well as his introduction, conclusion, notes and the included archival black and white photography, they all provide in Becoming Green Gables: The Diary of Myrtle Webb and Her Famous Farmhouse an absolutely textually delightful slice of both Canadian and specifically Prince Edward Island history and culture (and of course also paying homage to both Lucy Maud Montgomery and Anne of Green Gables, a wonderful piece of Canadiana that rates five stars for me and also comes highly and enthusiastically recommended).

[Julie Sellers · Rating 5 out of 5]

Myrtle and Ernest Webb owned the farm that is now Green Gables Heritage place, and Myrtle kept a diary beginning in 1924. History professor Alan MacEachern offers a selection of Myrtle’s entries and places them in context with local, national, and world events. It is fascinating to hear about daily life on the farm, the adoption of new technologies, visits from Montgomery, and how the Webb family welcomed boarders eager to visit the home associated with the fictional Green Gables. MacEachern illustrates how this early tourism, along with other societal changes, such as the increase in automobile travel, contributed to the association of the Webb farm and the fictional Green Gables, even to the Webbs’ detriment. The author documents the creation of the National Park, the expropriation of the farm and the Webbs’ sale of the land, and the years they remained as warden and caretakers until such time as Ernest was retired—not by his own choice.

This is an important insight into the life of the real family owners of the farm now known as Green Gables. For me, raised on a family farm myself, it made the house even more real. MacEachern has a storyteller’s way with words, interweaving observations and a touch of humor, and making history come alive. A must-read for all kindred spirits

[ATLANTIC BOOK REVIEWS · Rating 5 out of 5]

An absolute must read if you want to learn more about how the REAL Green Gables made famous by Lucy Maud Montgomery's story.

Learn about the Webb family who originally owned the property and watch as this humble rural farm and house became a National Park.

It was fascinating to read about daily life with the Webb family. Myrtle Webb's diary begins in April 1924 and ends December 1945 when she and her husband Ernest leave Green Gables as elderly people to live with their daughter in Charlottetown. There is no evidence that they ever returned.

"There is no way of knowing why, at the age of forty, part way through the calendar year, Myrtle Webb took up a pencil and wrote this entry in a fresh new notebook, beginning a diary that she would maintain for the next thirty years."

Beautifully researched and carefully written.

Of course, I especially enjoyed the diary entries that included anything to do with letters from "Aunt Maud" (LMM) or visits from her.

So happy to add this comprehensive book to my Anne of Green Gables/L.M. Montgomery bookshelf.

[Ana · Rating 5 out of 5]

Well researched and written. The journal entries, while written almost daily, are short and concise. Often what is not said says more than what is written. The author did a good job of bringing the entries to life with commentary and insight to the lives and circumstances of the times. An enjoyable read, with a little bit of nostalgic tug that comes for those of us who grapple with some aspects of inevitable “progress” - the evolution of a working rural family farm to a national park for all to enjoy - unfolds with speed through the pages of this book.

[Lisa Marie · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was exceptional well done and researched. Very readable. So interesting and also very sad to read about what happened to the Webb family.

[Vivian 🧚‍♀️ · Rating 5 out of 5]

Highly recommend!

[sarah simpson · Rating 5 out of 5]

I read Becoming Green Gables alongside the Webb diaries (https://greengablesdiary.ca/). On their own, the diaries can feel sparse, a list of chores, visitors, weather, and small remarks, but Alan MacEachern gives them cultural meaning. He explains what those brief entries actually represented socially, economically, and emotionally in early 20th-century Cavendish. The depth of research behind this book is remarkable, yet MacEachern presents it with notable clarity and accessibility. It is a rare achievement to combine rigorous historical research with such ease of reading.

What struck me most was seeing Myrtle Webb’s writing evolve as time passed. Early entries are full of berries, birds, and farm rhythms. Then tourism arrives and she’s too busy hosting visitors to write. Finally the national park takes over, and suddenly they can’t garden, pick berries, or live normally at all. The diary becomes quieter, thinner, almost administrative. You can feel a life narrowing without her ever saying it outright.

The book also challenges the comforting idea of Green Gables as timeless. The site we visit today is a reconstruction layered over a lived home, and the Webbs, who carefully preserved and shared it, ultimately had it taken from them. The irony is heartbreaking: they helped create the cultural landmark that displaced them and much of their community. This is a story about memory, heritage, and how preservation can unintentionally erase the people being preserved. Green Gables, and the community of Cavendish, became a “fantasy of a fantasy” when literature shaped reality which shaped tourism.

For anyone interested in Cavendish, Anne of Green Gables, PEI history, or how places become myths, this adds an essential and sometimes uncomfortable layer of understanding.

[E.A. Mantz · Rating 5 out of 5]

Wonderful story of rural life in PEI. Put me in mind of my grandmother’s family in Prince Edward County, Ontario. The story of a family that got caught up in a world-wide phenomenon - Anne of Green Gables. Well-written and thoughtfully drawn. 4.5 stars rounded up because of the wonderful photographs.