Montréal: A city filled with historical homes
June 11, 2015
With almost four centuries of history, Montreal is a city where historical homes meet modernism; this cohabitation is quite obvious on the streets of the city, where brand new condos and small houses that reflect a different era can be found on the same block.
This is the case of the Keegan house, a tiny little home on de la Montagne Street, in Griffintown, which was threatened with demolition until early 2015 due to the area's popularity with real estate developers.
Built circa 1825, the small house is Griffintown’s oldest residence. To save it, the developer Maître Carré will first have to move it away during the construction of a mixed housing tower, the Brickfields, on the ground it occupies. Then, after being restored and renovated, it will be integrated into the tower’s facade.
The history of the Keegan house is not unique in Montreal; many historic buildings and houses are still standing today, whether incorporated into other structures or not. These include the Shaughnessy House, now part of the Canadian Centre for Architecture, or Maison Saint-Gabriel, built in the 17th century and now a historical museum. The building that housed Montreal’s Old Custom House experienced a similar fate and is now part of Pointe-à-Callière Museum.
Several old houses are probably a stone's throw from your home or work; simply visit the Montréal heritage databases to discover them.
Photos by: Maître Carré, Wikipedia
About Maxime Ruel
A lover of foods, wines and good times, Maxime Ruel lives in Montreal, where he works as a freelance writer and journalist, drinks a lot of coffee and goes to bed way too late.