The Minister of Culture and Communications (MCC), Mathieu Lacombe, intends to have the case of the Charles-Daudelin house studied before deciding whether or not a classification by the State is advisable to protect it against the demolition which will watch. The Minister has just issued a safeguard order for this purpose valid for a maximum of 30 days, learned The duty.
The new owner of the building hoped instead to obtain a permit to destroy the house. The City of Kirkland intended to study its request, but several groups dedicated to the enhancement of Quebec heritage reacted strongly to this news reported by The duty.
The municipality of Kirkland, located about thirty kilometers west of downtown Montreal, has never seen fit to preserve the residence under the law.
The owner of the residence was notified by a bailiff of this temporary protective measure taken by the MCC, at the request of the Minister. Under the law, it is open to the owner to challenge this decision in court.
If the measure is not contested, the staff of the Ministry of Culture and Communications has one month from this day to produce a complete assessment of the premises. This measure taken by the Minister renders inoperative, at least for the moment, the sovereignty of the local planning committee of the Town of Kirkland over this house.
This Kirkland planning committee, made up of seven residents and two elected municipal officials, was to seal the fate of this modern building from one day to the next, after announcing that the decision it was to render at its last meeting was finally taken under advisement.
A house of artists and architects
The house of the sculptor Charles Daudelin and his wife, the artist Louise Bissonnette, was built from 1951. The house is the result of the work of several prestigious architects. The artist also considered this project as a natural extension of his own work, having worked a lot on it himself.
Born in 1920 in Granby, Charles Daudelin is one of the most acclaimed Quebec artists of the XXe century. His works are present everywhere in Quebec as well as abroad. He died in Kirkland in 2001.
Groups specializing in heritage preservation, such as Docomomo Québec and Action patrimoine, have submitted requests to the MCC for the classification of this singular residence, arguing that it is quite exceptional, both from an architectural and heritage point of view.
In 1951, the architectural firm Rother, Bland, Trudeau had been hired by Charles Daudelin to draw up the plans for the residence. Built in the middle of what was then only a growing field for onions, this residence benefited from the services of Georges Daudelin, a landscape architect who is one of the first in Quebec. Attached to the Montreal Botanical Garden, Georges Daudelin was also the artist’s brother.
The design of the house had been entrusted in particular to Charles Elliott Trudeau, brother of Pierre Elliott and uncle of Justin Trudeau, the current Prime Minister of Canada. Over the years, the house has been extended, each time benefiting from the watchful eye of renowned architects. It thus benefited from the work of the architect Jean-Louis Lalonde, associated in the post-war period with the construction of the UNESCO Palace in Paris. Architect Gordon Edwards, one of those responsible for the design of the Mirabel air terminal, also worked at the Daudelin house.