CANADIANA MEETS VICTORIAN
Owner lovingly restores 19th-century home
It was love at first sight. And it happened just in time for Michel Doyon.
He was on the verge of buying another house. The negotiations were almost complete. But then he spotted this house while taking a leisurely drive along Rivière-desMille-Îles.
“It reminded me of my parents’ home in Beauce,” he said, explaining the immediate attraction he felt for the place, despite its shabby look, flaky paint and ugly purple trim.
When he noticed it was for sale, he just couldn’t believe his luck.
This remarkable twist of fate happened in 2003. Since then, Doyon has made enough improvements to make his home very comfortable without spoiling its uniqueness in any way.
Dating back to about 1850, its architecture could be described as Canadiana with a Victorian influence. A wide porch stretches the length of the house and the eaves support a small balcony reminiscent of a widow’s walk.
The clapboard covering the exterior dates back to the 1950s.
“At that period, salesmen went door to door to sell this new cladding, promising, of course, that it would last forever,” Doyon explained.
Well, 60 years later, it still looks sturdy, needing just a coat of paint now and then to keep it looking fresh. And choosing a bright yellow makes the house festive, especially against a blanket of white snow.
Inside, everything has been selected to create an atmosphere of comfortable rustic charm and warmth, from the furniture — some old and some not — to the decoration and the colour scheme. Some red, some yellow, but mostly beautiful aged pine, from the floors to the nine-foot ceilings.
It is quite surprising to learn that the kitchen was entirely redone. It looks so authentic. Yet, the cabinets, like the imposing buffet with a wine rack, and the pockmarked island are all reproductions, made by a cabinet maker skilled in the art of making new stuff look old. The tin ceiling is also an imitation. It is made of 2-by-4-foot plastic panels that Doyon coated with aluminum paint. Clever and cheaper than the original tiles that are quite difficult to find these days. As for the slate floor, it is heated for comfort and very welcoming in winter.
There are, of course, many elements in the house that still date back to the 19th century, like the two fireplaces, built “en chicane,” as they used to say, meaning at each end of the house, one in the living room and the other in the dining room. When Doyon bought the house, the stones of the dining room fireplace were covered with plaster with a lining of newspaper underneath. For what purpose? No one will ever know. But oddly enough, perhaps it was used for insulation or as backing for the plaster. The imposing fireplace is now restored to its original beauty and functionality. Other unusual features of the house include the beams supporting the second floor. They are surprisingly thin and narrow (4-by-8 inches) while spanning the whole length of the house, which is 36 feet long. These beams do not rest on any retaining wall.
“Even my brother-in-law, who is an architect, does not understand how it works,” Doyon admitted. Has the knowledge been lost over the years? One thing is for sure, it took a mighty big tree to make those beams. On the ground floor, the small parlour with its fireplace and the living room beyond feel almost like one room by the clever use of french doors as a divider. There is also a harmony in the decor, plush sofas and armchairs, carpets and table runners, wooden decoys. Doyon is a collector at heart, a passion inherited from his father who was an auctioneer who began giving him collectible pieces when Doyon was in his 20s.
If his penchant for vintage stuff has never wavered, his interests have varied over the years. After wooden decoys, he had a passing fancy for model ships. Some are in the living room, and the one standing on the cross beam of the second floor is a reproduction of the famous Canadian schooner Bluenose.
In this house, the success of the decor comes from the harmony between each object, whether old or new. A good example is the dining room set. The table may look like an antique but it is a clever reproduction.
As for the chairs, they are what is called “press back chairs,” in reference to the design on the chair back. Instead of being carved, it is imprinted into the wood by a heavy press. The legs and spindles are also fashioned by machinery. These particular chairs, made of ash, come from the former Czechoslovakia. The ensemble may not be genuine but it looks stunning.
Interior wooden shutters halfway up the windows diffuse the light and are an interesting alternative to curtains. The upstairs floor underwent a thorough remodelling. One of the three original rooms was eliminated to enlarge the master suite and the hallway, now wide enough to accommodate Doyon’s home office. Despite the alterations, the attic has kept its country charm, with cross beams, dormers and part of a wall in natural stone, which is the extension of the fireplace below, in the master bedroom. A queensize mattress rests on an antique brass bed frame. As usual in this type of old homes, the floorboards are wider in the attic than on the ground floor, though they are also made from pine. The main bathroom offers all the commodities of our time in a charming vintage ambience. An old-fashioned vanity with side towel bars, a free-standing bathtub, the interior shutters and, of course, the cross beams of the ceiling, everything contributes to the effect. For contrast, the shower stall is lined with river pebbles.
This venerable home is as pretty on the outside, as it is warm and cosy on the inside. And it stands on a 20,000-square-foot landscaped garden that has been featured in a garden magazine and in a coffee-table book entitled Private Gardens of Quebec. In short, it’s quite a dream of a house.