“Home for us, forever”

I pace in front of four houses on Saint-André Street in Montreal. A woman gets out of her car with her dog and looks at me, increasingly worried. “I know I sound shady, but that’s because I write columns in The Press about the houses that intrigue me and I don’t know which one to knock on because I find them all magnificent. » She seems reassured. I try my luck: “Do you live in one of them?” »

Maryline Lambelin agrees to show me around her house, a heritage house built in 1872, but she must first bring in her grocery bags. I offer to take care of his dog, Canaille, an adorable 13-year-old colossus. “If this is a mission you want to take on, OK…”

I quickly understood what she meant by that. Canaille craves a stroll. We visit several neighbors’ land before I convince her with difficulty and misery to go home.

As I pass the door, I see a work by the artist MissMe. It is the portrait of a Vandal, a liberated and powerful woman who does not swallow her rage. Then, my attention is focused on the large solarium which borders the kitchen. The light there is splendid.

Canaille lies down under the rays. As I know how to live, I sit directly on the ground to be able to flatter her better, then I ask Marilyne to tell me her story.

Originally from the Paris region, Maryline Lambelin discovered Quebec 32 years ago. Her mother’s godmother, who lived here, had invited her to visit the metropolis. Maryline eventually married her son. They broke up, then another spouse came. “When we separated, I bought this house and I went to the women… It’s much quieter! »

I would like to know more about that, but I am here for the house and not for the series “Behind the Door”, so I am coming back to the house. How did she find it? “I found her in the classified ads for The Press », Reveals the owner to me with a smile.

The beautiful coincidence.

The same day, she visited him. Like 80 other people.

“Everything was wrong, the kitchen was a mess, the garden was disgusting, but… love at first sight,” remembers Maryline. It was a house with a history; the original brick wall, staircase and windows bore witness to this. I didn’t sleep all night. I knew it was my House. »

She got it. And since then, she has been renovating it for 12 years.

If, for you, a decade of work is synonymous with a nightmare (I understand you), know that it is a real pleasure for Maryline Lambelin, who has always worked in the decoration sector.

“I had a lot of problems to get around and I love it! For example, an electric meter was installed on the brick wall in the living room. Impossible to put it anywhere else. We blew out the wall and made hutches in which we put books and hid the meter. »

She points to the stretch ceiling above her kitchen, black and reflective. “If there is a flood, I can open it quickly. » For her, design must be practical, timeless and, above all, part of the history of the place.

She invites me to go upstairs to feel the hill leading to her office. The floor is far from straight, let’s say… And the door frames are ostentatiously crooked.

She shows me the door to her room, the bottom of which is lacerated by the claws of a dog. Scoundrel? Not even.

“I don’t want to fix that either!” Its a story ! There was a dog here and this is what he did. »

Marilyne spent 12 years renovating a heritage house, while keeping her most mundane stories alive. She became curator of a series of daily newspapers.

“When I redid the bathroom, I opened the walls and found a Polaroid photo of the lovers who lived here before me,” she continues. It was about ten years old and there was a little note written on it. “Home for us, forever”, I think. It touched me so much that I found them on social networks. One of them replied: “You have no idea how well-timed this message is.” I think they needed it.

— It’s sweet, it makes you want to imitate them.

— Yeah, well… I did the same thing with my partner at the time, but it didn’t last. There’s something in a wall up there, but we don’t talk about it, well,” Maryline slips, giggling.

If, one day, you buy his house and find this photo, don’t bother telling him about it. Although the chances of this scenario coming true are slim.

This house is for Maryline and forever.

“I will never sell it. This will be a legacy for my children. »

The love of a lifetime exists, at least in real estate.

Speaking of love, Maryline has found it and it is once again available in photos… The fifty-year-old hands me a stack of small black albums. For more than two years, they and his lover have chosen 35 photos per month and printed them in a collection. I leaf through them, touched.

“We never tell stories,” Maryline reflects… We have to keep traces, otherwise all our stories disappear. »

And here, we never let them fall completely into oblivion.