Quartier International condo holds art, artifacts
Location enables owner to do many errands on foot
Joan Gallagher is a divorcée with two adult children, but for much of her married life, she lived abroad. Her former, late husband worked for the trade division of the Quebec government, and during the course of his career, the couple was posted to a variety of countries, including France, Belgium and Italy. Avid art collectors, they picked up paintings wherever they went, as well as bits and pieces of furniture — most of which now have pride of place in Joan’s two-bedroom condominium.
Joan has had an interesting career too. She worked for Radio-Québec (now Télé-Québec) in the traffic department, in charge of putting commercials on air. She bought her home in 2002, in the part of town now referred to as the Quartier International. You were telling me you bought the condo off-plan.
I got it just at the point when this part of town was being fixed up and transformed into the Quartier International. The condo complex was a parking lot before.
The area has become quite popular because now we’ve got the World Trade Centre, the Palais des congrès and several big hotels. One of the great things about living here is that I can do almost everything on foot. If it’s raining or cold, I just go to the Palais des congrès, and from there I can access the Underground City and walk all the way to the Bay. I’m right next door to the YMCA where I go swimming. It keeps me flexible and gives me energy! How did you find this place?
I was watching the building going up, and one day I came in my lunch hour to have a look at it. My priority was to buy an apartment with two bedrooms, because at that point, my son was still living with me. I also liked the fact that the condo included a garage. We have to walk out into the street to access it, but it’s a common underground area. Speaking of common areas, do you have a pool or gym?
Neither, but I do have a balcony. It’s a big one — about 20 feet long — and it has a couple of storage lockers. Given that you bought the condo before it was built, did you make any changes to the interior?
Not really. I liked the layout. The open-plan dining-living area and kitchen gives me a feeling of space. The apartment is bright (she points out the French doors at the far end), and I love the cherry floors. The agent who sold me the house did suggest I should have mirrored doors on the hall closet, so I ordered those. The hallway is a bit narrow, but the mirrors make it look much bigger. I like your spiffy black fridge and stove. They go well with your pale yellow walls, the wood cabinets and your ceramic tiled floor.
I still do a fair amount of entertaining, though certainly not as much as when I lived abroad. The kitchen is a bit small, but it has a double sink.
(We walk from the kitchen, which is divided from the dining area by a breakfast bar. The dining table is elegant and has a tempered glass top, which extends at either end.) It’s not very common to find a glass-topped table you can pull out. I’ve only ever seen this style in wood.
I found the table in Meuble Perreault. It’s an Italian design. I was feeling sorry for myself one day and just decided to buy it! When it’s extended to its full length, I can seat up to eight people.
(At the other end of
the room is the living area, which has a plump sofa and matching armchair upholstered in beige velour. A burgundy and chocolate-brown Orientalstyle rug covers the floor. The top of the square coffee table has a Chinese motif. The walls are hung with an impressive collection of paintings. Opposite the armchair is a handsome Québécois armoire with characteristic diamond-design doors. Gallagher says it has crossed the Atlantic more than once.)
The armoire was a kind of marketing tool because part of my husband’s job was to encourage investors to come to Quebec. That’s why we did a lot of entertaining. Some of the paintings are typical scenes of Charlevoix, but the one to the right of the armchair came from Italy. It was a gift from the man who sold me vegetables and fruit, in return for teaching his son English.