This text is part of the special book Plaisirs
Architect Maxime Vandal and his accomplice, designer Richard Ouellette, have embarked on a larger-than-life project to bring life back to an ancestral 80-acre estate acquired six years ago. At Humminghill Farm, they’ve created a small ecosystem that embraces beauty and where they grow flowers, harvest honey and grow lots and lots of…chives. Quite naturally, the duo behind the firm Les Ensembliers somehow returned to their first love by imagining a collection of handmade objects in collaboration with artisans from the region. Maxime Vandal tells how the transplant took.
You have purchased and renovated around 20 properties over the past 15 years. However, the Humminghill Farm has a special little je-ne-sais-quoi. Why ?
We acquired this abandoned resort estate in an estate sale in 2016. Initially, it was just an investment project for us; in short, a building to be renovated. When we realized this was a Loyalist-era farm, we had the idea of bringing the property back to its agricultural essence and sharing what our land gives us, and this, even if we knew absolutely nothing about it.
Overnight, we became the owners of this great land full of resources. This chance also comes with the responsibility of protecting this heritage and bringing it back to life. In parallel with the restoration of the estate’s buildings, flowers were planted, then a large vegetable garden integrated into the architecture of the new construction was developed.
The flowers, the vegetable garden, the bees, the honey, then the objects for the house: everything you produce on the farm seems linked.
It’s a wheel that turns in the same ecosystem. It all started with the flowers, then the honey arrived because we were concerned about the bees, which are essential to ensure the pollination of our plants. Then, we asked our ceramist neighbor to make a jar for our honey, which was the starting point for the collection.
It was indeed only the first of a series of exclusive pieces that you have recently been selling in your online store. What is the common thread?
It is in a way our vision of the art of living and receiving on the farm. Our first cohort brings together 12 craftsmen, all from the region, but there is always a certain homogeneity in the objects that we have chosen or co-created with them. Our goal is to continue to grow from season to season. Moreover, five new local collaborators will be added to the collection in June.
You even went so far as to say that this project, which really took off during the pandemic, changed your life. How?
Of course, if it hadn’t been for the pandemic, we probably wouldn’t have tried all these experiments. It forced us to get involved at a strategic time when we had time to do so.
In the office, we are used to riding in a very high-speed locomotive. On the farm, it’s another approach that has been, I would say, beneficial for us. We achieve our goals, with humanity and humility, but it takes longer. It works on patience!