The owner’s tour | Peaceful life in the heart of Montreal

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

A large house, a courtyard side, a garden side, greenery all around and this soothing silence. These assets, most often specific to the suburbs, our property this week has them all, despite being in the heart of Montreal. Welcome to Terrasse Maisonneuve, a place as discreet as it is pampered by nature, in Rosemont.

“When we turn the corner [à partir de l’Assomption], we are elsewhere, like in the countryside. There is a tranquility and a kind of microclimate,” points out François Noël, owner of this house, located on avenue des Sapins.

Here, conifers and hardwoods are not only rooted in the ground. They identify the streets as in Cité-Jardin, this neighbor so adjoining that it is no longer quite clear where one begins, where the other ends. It was Cité-Jardin that set the tone in the early 1940s. The housing development project inspired by the British City Beautiful movement aimed to create affordable individual houses for families, in a healthy and green environment.

What is known today as Terrasse Maisonneuve emerged later. This explains why there are several large single-family homes typical of the 1960s in this last location. joint, in 2004. Sign seen, property visited, and deal concluded almost the same day, he recalls.

Nature at the heart of services

The house faces the Montreal golf course, is a three-minute walk from Maisonneuve Park, and a stone’s throw from Maisonneuve-Rosemont Hospital. To get an idea of ​​the closeness, when it came time to give birth to the youngest, the couple went on foot.

Initially, in addition to the exceptional location, it was the size of the house, its solidity and its potential that seduced the couple. Apart from the windows which had been changed, the house had kept all its original attributes. There was work to do to bring it up to date, recognizes the owner. Decompartmentalize, enlarge the openings to maximize the entry of natural light, redo the floors, the kitchen, the bathrooms… The couple had a six-week beat before moving in.

“We stripped everything down to the brick. We found the bruises [les plans de la maison] in a wall, as it was done before. When we entered, 90% of the work was done,” recalls Mr. Noël, who himself works in the field of architecture and construction.

If the new owners have changed almost everything, there was no question for them of sacrificing the hot water heating system. Only the oil boiler has been replaced by an electric one. “Hot water heating is the best system in the world. »

Courtyard side, garden side

When you are lucky enough to have a bit of land in Montreal, you want to take advantage of it. In this case, the exterior did not look like much at the time of purchase, remembers the owner. “A small balcony, an embankment, vegetation, a courtyard that we couldn’t see,” he summarizes.

The land of this property located on a street corner is unique in that it is largely to the left and right of the house, a bit like a theatre, with its courtyard side and its garden side. The couple showed ingenuity to exploit the space. An inground swimming pool and a relaxation area now occupy the garden side, while a large terrace has been set up on the courtyard side. A fence and a cedar hedge provide privacy for both.

Living in a peaceful environment with easy access to all services is the best of both worlds. The owners happily raised their two children in this privileged place. But now, the time has come to take another step. “We will miss the house,” admits Mr. Noël.