The owner’s tour | The second life of an old presbytery

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

Danielle Bonneau
The Press

After owning various income properties in Montreal, Danielle Lefrançois moved to Saint-Gabriel-de-Brandon in 2008, where she took a century-old house under her wing. She was in the process of renovating it when she learned, in June 2011, that the old rectory of the village was going to be demolished if it did not find a taker.

There were only a few days left before the deadline. The challenge promised to be daunting, since the imposing building, built in 1860, had to be moved. On a whim, with the support of one of her daughters, Geneviève Lefrançois, she set out to help the building. She never regretted it.

“It challenged me,” she reveals. The credit union had bought the old presbytery the previous year, but only wanted the land. She was selling the building for $1, because she knew very well that whoever bought it had to pay to have it moved. She also had to buy land, have the foundations built to place the presbytery on it, connect all the plumbing and electricity.

“Luckily, Geneviève was on maternity leave and she was able to help me the first year with requests for quotes, accounting, calling contractors, taking measurements, etc. If she hadn’t been there, I wouldn’t have been able to go through all of this on my own. I needed a hand to start. I was not in the unknown. »

A real adventure

The municipality sold him part of a piece of land, near the church, which had previously been used as a snow dump. Moving the presbytery was a real adventure, since the building turned out to be much heavier than expected. The structure of the walls, both on the ground floor and upstairs, is made of brick, the owner later noted, when she began to insulate rooms from the inside, to preserve the exterior cachet. She therefore adjusted the isolation method to take this into account.

From the start, she insisted on doing the work properly, thinking about the future. Well advised, she had the land excavated so as to have an 8-foot-high basement. She took the opportunity to have the plumbing installed.

“I preferred to pay so that the plumbing was already ready,” she says. The sinks elsewhere in the house have been hooked up to new plumbing, even the one in the attic, which I don’t use. One day, when someone wants to insulate that room for use, the plumbing will have been redone. I took care of the ground floor, the first floor and the basement. I didn’t make it to the attic, but there is great potential. »

Its goal was to rent premises to community organizations. Three set up their offices there during the first few years. But when one of them had to leave the premises in the spring of 2015, M^me Lefrançois has decided to sell his century-old house, located in the countryside, and move into the annex, twinned with the old presbytery. Financially, it was the best solution.

“It was not my choice to come and live in the center of the village,” she admits. But it’s very quiet, because the land that the City sold me is set back from the street. I am far from the houses, diagonally with the church. »

A well-appointed space

She therefore lives in the annex, completely apart from the employees of the two community organizations and the self-employed worker who rents offices in the former presbytery. The kitchen is on the ground floor. A staircase leads to his bedroom, which is spacious, and to a bathroom. A door opens into another room, which has become his office. From there, she can access a corridor, on which the other offices overlook, upstairs. From the kitchen, she also has access to a huge room, where she has already organized shows.

“I’m really good here,” she says. I have a large plot. Once it was leveled, I planted 112 trees for 10 years. And I had a swimming pool dug. Also, I have always wanted to improve the building. There is always work to be done. Being there is very convenient. »

The time has come, however, to pass the torch. “I like renovation,” she says. It’s a passion. But since the time I acquired the old presbytery 10 years ago, I have seven more grandchildren. I have 15 now. Maybe it’s time I did something other than buy materials and hire workers. There is still a little to do. There may still be improvements. »

She would like others to take over.