The owner’s tour | Multiple vocation

Facing Lake Champlain on one side and facing the Venise-en-Québec peat bog nature reserve on the other, this prestigious property, which includes eight units and three independent houses, offers a host of leisure activities worthy of an all-inclusive, about forty minutes from Montreal.

Emmanuelle Mozayan-Verschaeve
special cooperation

Luc Boissé and Jonathan Loiseau joined forces in 2019 to acquire Château Venise following an estate sale. “It was the property of Robert Aumont, president of the Club Piscine stores, whom I had already known. When he bought in 2005, it was campgrounds. He wanted to create a place to perpetuate a custom of family gatherings,” says Mr. Boissé, who notably owned a nearby golf club and a condo-hotel concept.

With its paths lined with majestic trees, its luxuriant flowerbeds highlighting the rounded terraces and its fully equipped outdoor kitchen, the Château Venise is part of an immense plot where several activity centers are organized, which we discover along the walk. Tennis, volleyball and pickelball courts precede the swimming pool, surrounded by a large terrace, a second summer kitchen and a large pavilion where a hundred people can meet. At the bottom, an observatory overlooks the peat bog, a protected area where flora and fauna thrive. “People also love it when sugaring-off time comes, because we have a shack and they can take their own syrup,” continues Mr. Boissé.

A unifying and festive place…

“It’s an extraordinary property and we decided to buy with Jonathan with the aim of renting it out to groups for special occasions, such as weddings or birthdays,” says Mr. Boissé.

The main house corresponded perfectly to the project of the two partners, since it is made up of eight independent units comprising one or two bedrooms, a bathroom and an open area with a kitchen. Some have balconies overlooking Lake Champlain.

The private spaces preserve everyone’s privacy, but all guests can meet in the common areas including two living rooms, a huge dining room and a kitchen to match, as well as a home theater and a billiard room. “Many religious communities have gathered here and large families who come from all over the world. We can accommodate 30 to 40 people, since there are 17 beds and sofa beds. »

… or a private residence

The owners, meanwhile, each have their pavilion a little set back and a third house is rented all year round. Their project has been very successful from the start, but the pandemic crisis and the real estate market have prompted them to put the property up for sale, in view of other challenges.

“We chose to rent the house to groups of people who know each other, but the estate could also become a beautiful private residence, since each unit is equipped like a condo. They are full apartments, but the common rooms and outdoor spaces have the appeal of a resort “, thinks Mr. Boissé.

The former master of the place had also built large wooden bins for each of his children to cultivate a vegetable garden there, which could become a great community activity as part of a residential project.