A TROPICAL TOUCH
At one time, Lee Hennessy thought she’d never settle back in Montreal.
She grew up in the city, but she’d spent more than 40 years living and working in Florida and the Cayman Islands. On the brief occasions when she returned to visit her family, she found the winters “absolutely numbing.”
A couple of years ago, she had a change of heart. Her career as a real estate broker was coming to an end and Hennessy figured it was time to retire. She looked at possible places where she might want to live, like Panama, but the pull of home proved very strong.
She finally decided to stay in Montreal for six months to see if she could adjust.
That longer visit did the trick. Hennessy moved back to the city in 2014.
Initially, her transition from tropical climes to Quebec was difficult. Not only did she have to get used to the weather again, the first apartment she rented had a change of management, so that didn’t work out.
The second apartment she rented was in a building in Westmount that she liked. But then the owners started to renovate the complex. Construction went on for well over a year, with a lot of noise and inconvenience.
Within six months of its completion, the building was sold to new owners. Again, Hennessy had to move out.
By 2017, Hennessy was feeling somewhat disheartened.
But then she found her present abode, which she loves — a compact apartment on the 23rd floor of a highrise in downtown Montreal, a stone’s throw from Sherbrooke St. W.
The apartment has an open living/dining room, a separate kitchen and a balcony giving views over the mountain on one side and the city skyline on the other, with the Olympic Stadium in the distance.
Q You said you found this place by chance?
A I did. A friend, knowing that I’d been in the real estate business, asked me to check out the building for her before she put in an offer on a large, four-bedroom
apartment. I liked what I saw, so I asked the manager if there were any smaller places available. As luck would have it, a one-bedroom apartment had come on the market just the day before, so here I am!
Q Apart from the fact it was the right size, what was it that particularly appealed to you?
A It fit several of my criteria. The apartment has a great view, it’s bright and there’s a swimming pool. There’s even a doorman.
(We walk into Hennessy’s bedroom, which is a blend of brilliant orange and white — a cheery, sunny decor that she says makes her “feel happy” every morning when she wakes up.)
Q It’s well seen you used to live in a hot climate. Your decor is dazzling! I think I should have brought my sunglasses.
A (Laughs) Well, I like really vibrant hues and many of the things you see here in the apartment have changed colour several times. The round frame of the mirror above one of the sofas in the living room used to be silver, then it went to black and now it’s shocking pink. As you can see, shocking pink is one of my favourite colours, but I like to contrast it with dramatic accents like black and white.
(She indicates a black wall in the living room area against which stands a white, wood mantelpiece framing an electric, flame-effect fire. Her dining table is bright yellow and is paired with black chairs. In the seating area are two similar pink and white sofas facing one another. Between them stands a large ottoman covered in faux zebra-hide fabric.)
Q Your sofas are almost the same, but with opposite colours. Tell me about them.
A The shocking pink one with the white piping came with me from the Cayman Islands. The white sofa with the pink piping is actually from IKEA, but I had it reupholstered. It was done by a lady in Knowlton. I picked up quite a few of my ornaments in Knowlton as well.
Q Which ones specifically?
A The glass dish beside my pink sofa, the statue of the lady beside the dining table and the two stylized ceramic busts (one is black, the other is white) on the cadenza. Unfortunately, the store where I bought all these things has now closed.
Q Are you talking about the cadenza outside the kitchen? A That’s right.
Q Was that another of the things that came with you from the Cayman Islands?
A No. It’s from IKEA. It’s actually a stand-up cupboard. I turned it on its side, because I needed a sideboard.
Q Turning the unit horizontally was a clever idea.
A Well, I’ve seen so many houses in my time and I’ve picked up ideas along the way. One of the things I’ve learned is that even if you don’t have a lot of money, you can do an awful lot with colour and a little imagination.