The Ghosts of Glen Villa | The Press

On the former territory of the Abenakis that borders Lake Massawippi, in the Eastern Townships, today stands a lush garden dotted with works of art and plant paintings where birds chirp. But whoever listens can still hear the whispers of those who once trod its soil…

Texts: Isabelle Morin
The Press

Photos: Martin Tremblay
The Press

At this time of year, the art garden at Glen Villa smells of lilacs. There was a time when people came from afar to bask there and smell its peaceful nature. North Hatley, at the end of the 19th^e century, was a resort popular with a well-heeled international clientele, but particularly southerners who came to the north to find less suffocating heat in summer.

It was during this prosperous period for the hotel industry in the village that the small Glen Villa hotel was built in 1893, before being replaced by a larger establishment: three floors – an attraction in the surroundings – which made it possible to accommodate no longer 50, but 200 guests. The hotel also has its own agricultural land and a farm that supplies it with milk and fresh vegetables.

The year is 1907. New visitors, arriving in the village by train, land on the shore of Glen Villa by steamboat. The time is for umbrellas. We escape by fishing for trout, in a horse-drawn carriage in the woods, playing tennis or golf in neat outfits. In the villa, an orchestra accompanies meals. Couples migrate to the casino in the evening or embrace discreetly in the ballroom. The smoke from the cigars around the pool tables and bowling alleys is to cut with a knife… Glen Villa has a perky spirit.

Tribute to the past

From the glorious era of Glen Villa there remains an exceptional place made up of a forest, waterfalls, agricultural fields and meadows from which you can admire the shimmering reflections of the Massawippi… A few ruins, too: the two hotels of the turn of the century were in turn ravaged by flames.

After the last fire, the land and its farm were bought by a rich businessman from Sherbrooke before passing into the hands of two owners and falling into oblivion. Journalist Norman Webster’s father was one of them. After having lived in China during the Cultural Revolution and in England during the Thatcher years, it is in the land of his youth, where he used to spend his holidays, that the correspondent of the Globe and Mail settled down with his wife, Patterson, and their five children in 1996, after acquiring the estate.

“I fell in love with the site, the family, the people. That’s where the heart was,” says Patterson Webster, who is originally from Virginia.

A bridge to the future

For more than a quarter of a century, visual artist, writer and philosopher Patterson Webster has shaped flora, studied topography, unearthed the soul of places through art and horticulture. She discovered, in doing so, several artifacts highlighted in artistic works.

“All these ruins spoke to me in a way and seemed to say that if you looked closely, you could find more about this site than beautiful aesthetics. One of my first installations is called The ghost walk. Sometimes I feel like they’re everywhere, warm and friendly, she laughs. There are plenty of romantic elements to this land. The artist and writer recounts the creation of her art garden in a book, Autobiography of a Gardenwhich will be released in July.

“It’s easy to go through life without seeing what’s in your way and without worrying about the consequences,” she says. I hope that by being aware of the history of the site and taking the time to observe what is there, we can measure the impact of our own passage on the territory and on the future. »

The garden of Glen Villa is a plant story in 15 paintings that tells the story of its inhabitants. To this story is now added the imprint of Patterson Webster and his family.