Real Estate | The flamboyant, alley of widows

There is a yellow house that stands out, rue de Grand-Pré, in Montreal. It is one of the first to be built in what would once have been called “widows’ lane”…

“Perhaps because of the war or an epidemic? “says Bernard Cooper. Hard to say, the information is taken from a unique book that Bernard inherited when he bought the house four years ago. In about sixty pages, former owners describe everything they could find on the history of the house.

I leaf through the precious gift, sitting in Bernard’s kitchen, whom I don’t know at all. I used my “I write a series of chronicles on intriguing houses” card to get invited.

This has piqued my curiosity for years. And I’m not the only one…

Myriam Bouroche maintains the Passion Montréal Instagram account. She photographs houses, publishes her photos and adds historical information unearthed in archival documents. Last June, she became interested in the beautiful yellow, rue de Grand-Pré.

“My first accommodation in Montreal was a stone’s throw away. »

Myriam Bouroche even invited her Instagram followers to paint the property, as she does on occasion. Thirty people from all over the world responded to the call.

“It fascinates me to reach people who have never visited Montreal! There are some from Ukraine and Russia who are living through the war and who, to clear their minds, design our houses… It’s incredible. »

Bernard Cooper observed each of the works with interest. “Someone drew the house alone, as it once was. Today it is walled up, but it was not like that in 1880.”

Exactly, let’s go back to the past.

* * *

The album that Bernard Cooper shows me is called The story of a house: the house of Grand-Pré. According to its authors, the house would be one of the first built in this part of Coteau-Saint-Louis, a workers’ village. Today, we are talking more about the Plateau.

Justin Bur, member of the Société d’histoire du Plateau-Mont-Royal et de Mémoire du Mile End, confirmed to me later that the building was built between 1874 and 1879. But as for the widows’ lane, no traces in vintage maps… Perhaps an informal nickname?

The house belonged to various bourgeois families, including that of Joseph-Octave Villeneuve, mayor of Montreal and senator. In 1947, it was under the Duchênes that she would have acquired the nickname “La flamboyante”. Because we were festive there or because the roof was then red, can we read in the album.

In one photo, a dozen people pose proudly, including several children.

In 1979, two men transformed the property into a rooming house. They are the ones who wrote its history. They also devoted a chapter to its Second Empire architecture, which can be recognized by the false attic, the symmetry of the vestibules or the turret with a pavilion roof. It was used at the time as a dovecote, is this indicated.

” In the sense that… ?

“In the direction the pigeons were entering!” “Bernard replies laughing.

Much work has been done since. Bernard Cooper divided the building into two semi-detached houses and a garden level unit. He also made sure to give it back its cachet of yesteryear, since some sections had been renovated according to the dictates of modernity.

People sometimes stop to thank him for maintaining the house. “I realize that having a house like that is like being a private curator. You benefit from the renovations, but so do passers-by. »

And happy fellows, there are…

“Tourists take photos 12 months a year! said Frédérick Poulin to me when I called him the next day. He bought the left side of the house in 2019 and understands the fascination of the place. From his first visit, he guessed that he was unique.

It is thus part of a long tradition. Over time, he discovered different names engraved by small hands under layers of paint and on some bricks…

* * *

One of Bernard Cooper’s projects was the restoration of the turret. He invites me to visit it. I’m delighted… until I see the stairs you have to take to get there.

It is a Japanese step staircase. That is to say, there is a step for each foot and these steps are particularly narrow. Have you ever squealed as you walked past a friendly stranger? I do.

The jitters were worth it. Up there, no trace of a pigeon, just two pretty frosted windows that invite introspection.

“What does it mean to you to know the past of your house, Bernard?”

“It gives me the impression that it continues. It makes me feel good that people had family fun here… Because I didn’t have that chance. My son was already grown when I purchased. I would have liked to make Christmas trees, in front… But hey, I don’t have any major regrets. I’m starting to make more dinner friends and making memories too. »

We go back down. Bernard adds that he thinks I’m lucky to be able to ring people’s bells and visit their homes. Many would like to do the same.

That is true. Besides, what drives us to observe the home of others, sometimes even from the other side of the world?

“Each window becomes a television screen or a book, replied Myriam Bouroche. You dive into it and the others are characters. What are they doing in there? Do they live like me? »

Well, know that here they honor the past by sometimes dreaming of tall fir trees.