Posted at 12:00 p.m.
A Patriot’s Letter
PHOTO MARTIN TREMBLAY, THE PRESS
Attached to history and genealogy, Suzanne Rolland has kept several objects that belonged to her grandmother, Rosalie Loranger, including a letter written by her great-uncle, Louis-Joseph Papineau.
Pieces of a family history, but also, by the band, of that of Quebec, are at the Élogia residence, in Montreal, in Suzanne Rolland’s apartment. Among them, a letter dated 1887 that Louis-Joseph Papineau wrote to his niece who was then organizing a party to celebrate the return from the honeymoon of her daughter, Rosalie Loranger, Suzanne’s grandmother.
PHOTO MARTIN TREMBLAY, THE PRESS
He writes: “We will talk about their admiration for New York, the most beautiful social creation of the New World […], of their admiration for the sublime Niagara which will become a goal of pilgrimage more frequented than those of Mecca and Benares. »
When she moved into her two and a half, Suzanne Rolland brought several objects that belonged to her family (she is the daughter of journalist, author and politician Solange Chaput-Rolland). But she also gave several pieces of furniture to her children and sold others. “People, in general, have such a hard time separating [des objets] let them take everything. They often have large pieces of furniture. It makes them live in cramped conditions. I wanted to live in an airy place. »
A tapestry in memory of the wedding
PHOTO MARTIN TREMBLAY, THE PRESS
Normande Guimond and Claude Lamarre are attached to this tapestry bought in France, during their honeymoon.
Two floors above, at Normande Guimond and Claude Lamarre, another era and another country are represented. Both are great travelers. Particularly Mr. Lamarre, who has visited five continents. Their four and a half is embellished with travel souvenirs. But going from a house to an apartment, “we had to select a lot”, remarks Mme Guimond.
PHOTO MARTIN TREMBLAY, THE PRESS
The tapestry tells a bit of the story of Prince Arthur with the Knights of the Round Table. There was a knight who was in love with Arthur’s wife.
One of the objects they will never part with is a tapestry bought at the Palais des Papes in Avignon, France, during their honeymoon. “We had been living together for a while. For the year 2000, we wanted to do something special, so we decided that we were going to get married! says Mr. Lamarre. The tapestry tells a bit of the story of Prince Arthur with the Knights of the Round Table. There was a knight who was in love with Arthur’s wife. A scene from the Middle Ages that now sits in their living room.
albums of a lifetime
PHOTO MARTIN TREMBLAY, THE PRESS
Marguerite Houle collects the fragments of her life in albums. “It’s a bit like writing my biography. No matter what page I open, it’s alive. »
Marguerite Houle had a full life. Host on Quebec TV CFCM-TV in the 1960s, political attaché to the Member of Parliament for Marie-Victorin in 1992, entrepreneur, she was also married to a soldier, which led her to live in Germany. Initiated at scrapbooking by her mother, who had suggested that she cut out her dreams, she continued the exercise over the years, gathering in albums the important moments of her life, since her birth in 1939. Here, photos of the family and friends, there, show tickets and newspaper clippings on events and personalities that marked her. “There are also secrets hidden under the photos,” she says. It is those who inherit it who will be able to see. »
About sixty albums now fill his library and the exercise continues. “It’s a bit like writing my biography. No matter what page I open, it’s alive. »
Her albums followed her through her 20s of moves. “Each object has a specific meaning. I only keep what made me happy. »
A wall of memories
PHOTO MARTIN TREMBLAY, THE PRESS
Éliane Francœur and part of her collection of masks
When she moved from a three-bedroom apartment to a two and a half last September, Éliane Francœur also had to get rid of several pieces of furniture. Her memories are on the walls. For twenty years, she has been collecting masks. All travel souvenirs or gifts from loved ones. Many come from Mexico, others from China, South Africa, Peru or Cuba.
PHOTO MARTIN TREMBLAY, THE PRESS
These masks are all travel souvenirs or gifts from loved ones.
“I stopped buying because I have no more space,” she says. I gave some too. I was about fifty. I haven’t counted how many I have left. Her masks have followed her through her last five moves. “These are my most precious possessions because they are memories of life. Traveling is one of my great pleasures. For me, everything else can be replaced, but this, no. »
His sister in painting
PHOTO MARTIN TREMBLAY, THE PRESS
Gisèle Beaulieu and her spouse, Raynald Corbeil.
For as long as she can remember, Gisèle Beaulieu has always wanted a little sister. She will only have brothers, who come in packs of four. In 1985, while looking for a canvas to decorate her new interior, she came across a canvas by Montreal artist Liane Abrieu, titled Little sister.
PHOTO MARTIN TREMBLAY, THE PRESS
The Web Little sisterpainted by Liane Abrieu, has always been in Gisèle Beaulieu’s bedroom.
“I was speechless, I didn’t know what to say and I had a shiver,” she recalls, telling the story in great detail. She was also thrilled when she saw the price, which was way over her budget. But inhabited by this canvas weeks later, she returned to the gallery where she found the painting in the antechamber. It had been placed there in view of a vernissage at which Mr.me Beaulieu attended. Since then, the canvas has never left her. “My little sister whom I never had physically, I have had her in canvas for forty years. »
A well-chosen bed
PHOTO MARTIN TREMBLAY, THE PRESS
Michel Richard’s bed followed him from Montreal to Farnham, then to his son and finally, to his residence apartment.
Michel Richard’s apartment is sparsely furnished. The few objects from “his former life” that followed him were carefully chosen, such as this Wassily armchair by architect and designer Marcel Breuer (which he keeps despite his discomfort!), a console table and a few works of art . “But nothing I like as much as my bed,” he tells us.
A purchase he made in 1990 at Meubles Re-No. “It’s pure Italian: lacquered base, slatted base like you rarely found at the time, tilting leather headboard and two bedside tables also lacquered, height-adjustable and swivel top, integrated lamps, describes -he. Only one thing is missing: he doesn’t change the sheets by himself! »
He admits having bought it when he didn’t need it, but 30 years later, there is no question of getting rid of it. “When I moved here, I would have liked to have had a smaller apartment than the three-room apartment I had to fall back on, but the bed didn’t fit into a smaller area. »
The sculptor’s lair
PHOTO MARTIN TREMBLAY, THE PRESS
Jacques Gauthier devotes himself to wood carving in the studio of the Station Est residence, which he shares with other residents.
Jacques Gauthier’s most precious object does not fit in his apartment. It is installed in a small room hidden at the back of the garage of his residence: “the workshop”. This is where he put the table and the chisels he uses for woodcarving. Some scissors were made by his grandfather and given to his father who used them on his dairy farm.
PHOTO MARTIN TREMBLAY, THE PRESS
The works of Jacques Gauthier are exhibited on the walls of his apartment.
PHOTO MARTIN TREMBLAY, THE PRESS
These scissors were given to him by his father, who himself had received them from his father.
“It’s my home. We are you well! “, he says, taking us into his lair, which he shares with a few neighbors who have also brought their tools. The management of the Station Est residence even bought them a table saw.
Without this space, this former police officer could not practice at home this passion which has followed him since 1985. He has even won provincial competitions. The sculptor does not lack inspiration. To see his apartment, it is perhaps the walls to exhibit his works that will soon be missing!
Grandma’s quilt
PHOTO MARCO CAMPANOZZI, THE PRESS
Émilienne Tremblay treasures this quilt made by her grandmother in her apartment at the Boréa residence in Blainville.
Émilienne Tremblay’s grandmother had nimble fingers. A hatter, she also made quilts for her six grandchildren. Mme Tremblay still has his own: a large white quilt with green and red flower patterns, hand-stitched. “I will not part with it. It’s in my safe. I dare not take it out. I would have to use it at some point. But it’s because I know the value of the time she put into it. »
Émilienne Tremblay also loves crafts. “I had a duplex. I had been on my own for three years, after my husband died. I had a piece just for my craft. It was like a store. I was picking up for my retirement. I had to let go of a lot of things I cared about. »
Unusual books
PHOTO MARCO CAMPANOZZI, THE PRESS
Chantal Seigneur lived in Pierrefonds before moving to Laval.
Chantal Seigneur likes beautiful books. In her house, which she lived in for 61 years before moving to an apartment at the Laval residence iVVi, in 2020, she owned several.
“I have always been a compulsive shopper. I was buying collections. I gave a lot. “Among those she kept, there are these boxes made by Jacqueline Lellouche, the former president of the book club “Le Cercle des 10 fermières” to which Ms.me Lord participated until 2017.
PHOTO MARCO CAMPANOZZI, THE PRESS
These boxes kept by Chantal Seigneur contain a literary work in paperback as well as the film that was made from it.
PHOTO MARCO CAMPANOZZI, THE PRESS
The human beastalong with the railroad that adorns the cover of the book, is one of his favorite sets.
The 10 women received dinner in turn one Wednesday a month to talk about literature. At the end of the year, their president gave them a box containing a book as well as the cassette of the film that had been made from it. Magnificent binding work. “I have 18 left. I gave two to my grandson two years ago. Since that time, I have not continued. She’s still too attached to them to let them go.