LE OLD MILL SHOWCASES TOWNSHIPS TERROIR
Le Old Mill 1849 is a small but significant showcase for the bountiful harvest of the Eastern Townships.
It’s a stylish incarnation of a vintage red brick house at the centre of Stanbridge East, a historic village along La Route des Vins in the fertile BromeMissisquoi region.
It has a picturesque, tranquil setting beside the Rivière aux Brochets and a vintage gristmill, whose wheel still turns and turns with a peaceful, steady rhythm.
Le Old Mill 1849 is also a design delight. The sagging old manor (its original name was Cecil House) was stripped down to the studs, and it now has a rustic-cool look that blends original wood and brick with modern black steel, all amid colourful gardens.
Everything is old, but everything is also new again, totally rebuilt and updated.
Marie-Florence Paradis owns Le Old Mill 1849 with partners including her father, Denis Paradis, a longtime member of Parliament and former cabinet minister in several Liberal governments.
Paradis père also owns the Domaine du Ridge vineyard just down the road, so there is a close pairing between wine and the inn’s bistro.
Lodging: Le Old Mill 1849 has four guest rooms and one suite, all atop its restaurant. They have all been thoroughly redone with varnished wooden floors, air conditioning and TVs that stream Netflix.
Each room is decorated differently, with natural fabrics in colours of wheat, charcoal, chalk and ebony.
White cottage furniture adds a simple, pure Shaker look.
One room has a view of the mill and river, as well as an original brick wall, and the suite overlooks the inn’s meadow and large lawn and garden.
All the rooms have pristine bathrooms with new tiling, fixtures and glass showers.
Food: The bistro shows off the inn’s handsome country origins. It’s a pub with a central bar — stainless steel and varnished cherry wood, plus high-top stools and tables with well-worn tavern chairs. The highlight is the ceiling; the renovators worked hard to peel away 170 years of layers down to vintage wooden beams, now beautifully preserved.
The menu aims to showcase townships terroir in a casual way, including microbrews, wine, spirits, meat, cheese and vegetables from BromeMissisquoi.
The food is hearty and the portions are huge.
Specialties include Brome Lake drumsticks baked with honey, orange and garlic; poutine with braised beef; caesar salad with greens from Les Jardins du Canton, plus pizza, burgers and sweets.
The inn serves almost exclusively Quebec wine, beer and spirits.
Wine: Domaine du Ridge is a stop on La Route des Vins. It has a gorgeous, tree-shaded terrasse and a barn for tastings, plus a boutique selling local charcuterie, cheeses, wine jelly and pâtés.
One of the largest vineyards in Quebec, the Domaine has 133,000 plants producing 10 wines, including Le Bâtonnier (so named because Paradis is a
lawyer) and Champs de Florence (a rosé named for daughter Marie-Florence).
What to do: Le Old Mill presents local artists in the pub almost every Friday, with cool music that pairs well with drinks and supper — jazz, blues, folk and traditional Quebec tunes.
The Missisquoi Museum, operating in the 1830 mill adjacent to the inn, is a charming setting for exhibits about people and events of the region.
History fans also like the Townships Trail, which runs through 31 heritage communities including Stanbridge East, Bromont, Sutton and Bedford.
The inn rents kayaks
($20 per person for the day) for paddling on the river, right outside the door.
Further afield, Mont Sutton’s fall festival continues until Oct. 14, featuring chairlift rides, family activities and guided hikes.
At Bromont, montagne d’expériences, local microbreweries will organize a halfmarathon paired with beer sampling, taking place Nov. 11.