The owner’s tour | Corner of paradise on the South Shore of Quebec

Owners open the doors of their exceptional homes to us, offered on the resale market.

(Saint-Nicolas) On the South Shore of Quebec, the Charland-Doucet house has undergone several renovations since its construction in the 1960s. One aspect, however, has remained intact: with its immense courtyard and its view of the river, this property offers everything to enjoy life.

Leaving Route 132, near Quebec, an avenue of mature trees leads to the Charland-Doucet property. Farmhouse style, the residence seems straight out of the popular American show My dream house hosted by designer Shea McGee.

When Pascale Charland bought the place in 2016, however, its look was very different.

“The exterior was all stone and the house didn’t have many windows. It lacked oomph, summarizes the owner. I immediately saw the potential. »

Of course, it was necessary to refresh everything, add openings, remove the carpet, but the immense garden of more than 7000 m², isolated from the road and the neighbors, with a view of the Saint-Laurent, the mountains and the sunsets , was worth the investment of money and time.

The home also had several features sought after in prestigious homes: 9 ft ceilings, two separate entrances and a double garage. M^me Charland thinks he knows why.

“It was the vacation home of the Clément family (founder, in 1939, of clothing and accessories stores for babies and children), she says. She had it built to the highest standards of the time. »

All that remained was to put its strengths forward.

Long live the light

First step: rejuvenate the exterior appearance. To do this, the family camouflaged the majority of the stone walls using white wood cladding. Then, she added a gallery to the facade and redid the roof in black sheet metal.

“We did not touch the square of the house on the ground,” explains M.^me Charland. We instead chose to add volume upstairs by installing dormer windows. »

Three have been added to the front of the property. In addition to bringing light into the main entrance, these additions made it possible to enlarge the main bathroom as well as one of the three bedrooms.

At the rear, around twenty windows were also replaced or installed to maximize the view. The living room, the central room of the house, is now so bright and windowed that you have the impression of living outside.

The work then continued in the courtyard. M^me Charland added a pergola, and the covered terrace, adjacent to the in-ground pool, allows you to be outside rain or shine. Transparent canvases, installed around the terrace in the fall, protect from the cold and extend the pleasure until winter.

“The yard is always in the sun and I’m always outside,” she says. Her copper complexion confirms this.

The kitchen was originally located at the west end of the house. The previous owners converted the room into an office and moved the kitchen into the living room. Masterstroke ? The office set back from the living areas opens onto the garden thanks to its large French window.

Between the morning sun on one side and the view of the river on the other, it’s hard to find a better motivation to go to work.

“My boy would have liked this to be his room,” laughs M^me Charland.

Since the main floor has a full bathroom, the office could actually be transformed into a fourth bedroom.

Love of decoration

To harmonize the interior look, Pascale Charland repainted everything white, including the immense pink granite fireplace which rises two floors in the center of the house.

The owner is neither an architect nor a designer, but she loves decoration. The magazines left in the living room suggest this. She has also renovated the kitchen twice since her arrival seven years ago to make the room more functional and more chic. The ideally hidden cutting board rack, the pantry, the quartz countertop and the gold handles, everything has been thought out and considered. The same goes for all the ceramic floors which, in the entrance and in the bathroom, are heated.

The space is large, but the property does not have a basement. A staircase leads to the crawl space, part of which was converted into a wine cellar by the previous owners. Lovers of good bottles, the Charland-Doucet family increased the capacity and installed an air conditioner to maximize storage conditions. The cellar can now accommodate 600 bottles.

When moving in 2016, the family left Quebec City and its amenities to settle on the South Shore, in the suburbs. Young teenagers were difficult to convince. Seven years later, they have grown up and the young adults now no longer want to leave this dream place. However, the parents took different paths and the maintenance of the property became too arduous for M^me Charland. She now plans to enjoy life in another setting and renovate a new home.