(Saint-Étienne-des-Grès) Michel Martel knows that he is waging a war that is lost in advance: against time, against fashions, against the peak of the wreckers. But he still fights. For 50 years, he has managed to give a second life to about 70 ancestral houses destined for demolition. A small victory for heritage, but also for the environment. The Press the encounter.
Posted at 11:00 a.m.
The 1870 house has all been stripped. Michel Martel removed the cover, removed the wires, the plumbing. Only the bare framework remains, like a skeleton from another era.
“Those are boreal trees,” says the 71-year-old man, pointing to the imposing planks that form the framework. While stripping the house, he found 22-inch-wide pine boards.
“It dates from 1870. It’s the end of cutting wood to send it to England, it’s the end of the lumber barons. It’s another era. »
This old frame could have ended up in a container. But Michel Martel spent days “undressing” the house in Saint-Étienne-des-Grès, between Trois-Rivières and Shawinigan.
He numbered all the pieces. Soon he will dismantle the building and put it on a truck. It will be moved to Estrie, where a new owner will give it a second life. The framework will be saved, like the staircase and several floorboards.
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PHOTO DAVID BOILY, THE PRESS
Built in 1870, the house in Saint-Étienne-des-Grès will be moved and rebuilt in Estrie.
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PHOTO DAVID BOILY, THE PRESS
The frame will be preserved, as well as the staircase and several floorboards
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PHOTO DAVID BOILY, THE PRESS
The frame will be preserved, as well as the staircase and several floorboards
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PHOTO DAVID BOILY, THE PRESS
Under the stairs, glued tapestry and newspaper
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PHOTO DAVID BOILY, THE PRESS
Under the stairs, glued tapestry and newspaper
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PHOTO DAVID BOILY, THE PRESS
Each piece is numbered.
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PHOTO DAVID BOILY, THE PRESS
Square nails testify to the age of the house.
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Without Michel Martel’s intervention, what would have happened to the house? It would probably have ended up under the peak of the wreckers, like hundreds of ancestral cars every year in Quebec.
I often have visitors to my construction sites from elderly people who have lived in the house or who have had relatives who have lived there. They come to see the house which undresses quietly and which is going to leave.
Michael Martel
“I never saw any crying or gnashing of teeth. The gnashing of teeth occurs when someone says “fuck, I’m building in two weeks and I’m putting in a mechanical shovel that crushes a house in a morning”. That makes you scream. »
“Michel is not replaceable”
Michel Martel knows that, second lives. Trained as a musician, he worked in this field for 25 years, including 3 years spent on tour with Dan Bigras.
But interest in old houses came early. Around the age of 25, in the 1970s, he bought an ancestral one. He set about renovating it.
“Then I started to dismantle some with my brothers, houses intended for demolition. These were houses that were going to fall under mechanical shovels. Or people would just set fire to it. »
Without training in carpentry, he learned “on the job”.
The secret there is to open your eyes and analyze how the ancients did it. How they assembled the wood. This is where you learn. It was empirical knowledge passed down from grandfather to son to grandson…
Michael Martel
Michel Martel estimates that he has given a second life to 70 houses. It may seem like a lot, but it’s a drop in the ocean.
Retired engineer Yves Lacourcière, passionate about heritage, has already estimated that there are 400,000 old buildings in Quebec, 30,000 of which are protected to varying degrees. And every year, 3000 of these buildings would be demolished.
“It’s second-line rescue. Michel Martel will take an interest in houses that have escaped the system,” notes Louis-Pascal Rousseau, doctor of history and heritage appraiser. “These are not buildings that have undergone a heritage assessment or that have reached a sufficient rating to be preserved. »
PHOTO DAVID BOILY, THE PRESS
Always admiring ancestral construction methods, Michel Martel tries to transmit his knowledge to the young carpenters who participate in the reassembly of his houses.
This historian decided to document the work of Michel Martel. He notably filmed it at various stages of his work. He intends to return the images to the National Archives of Quebec. He is also preparing a comic strip on ancient construction techniques, inspired by what he learned by following the man.
Michel is not replaceable. So, you have to document your know-how as much as possible. There is an absolutely incredible mess going on right now. It would take dozens of Michel in Quebec.
Louis-Pascal Rousseau, Doctor of History and Heritage Appraiser
In the meantime, the Lemire house in Saint-Étienne-des-Grès will have a second life. She will move to Estrie, where she will be isolated again, covered, dressed…
“I like it, the patina, the reuse,” explains the buyer, who did not want to be named to maintain his privacy. “There are also environmental reasons. It all comes together in my choice,” says the man in his forties, met on the site, where he was removing nails under the supervision of Michel Martel.
At 71, Mr. Martel is still in good shape. But he knows he is not eternal. He tries to pass on his knowledge to the young carpenters who participate in the reassembly of his houses.
“Guys screw drywall year-round in condos. Do you have any idea when I take them to wooded areas and put chisels and axes in their hands and start talking to them about Cartier and Champlain… They’re crazy! »
“The younger generations will inherit this. What’s left of it, in fact. Because I save one, they destroy 300 next door. That’s the truth anyway. »