The interior of this bicentennial house in L’Acadie, near Saint-Jean-sur-Richelieu, made Valérie Lemieux and Simon Deschamps’ eyes widen as soon as they set foot there.
“It was love at first sight! », exclaims Ms. Lemieux, remembering the first time she opened the door of this ancestral home. “As soon as I saw the old ceiling beams, I immediately said to myself: “That’s the one! This is what I always dreamed of having!” »
This cottage indeed contains all the charm of an outdated era, starting with the reassuring smell of old country houses that intoxicates us as soon as we push open the door. Its low ceilings, its old fireplace, its old varnished wooden floors and its double French windows, still decorated with their espagnolette, add to the enchantment.
“You don’t often find this atmosphere elsewhere,” believes Mr. Deschamps, taking a look around him. The authenticity of the place plays a big role, he says, opening a file full of old notarial documents dating back to… 1797.
Old photographs, tucked into the folder, bear witness to the long history of the house built facing the L’Acadie River. They show the succession of families who have lived over the centuries in this same house, in the background, still recognizable today even though the interior has been updated.
“The previous owner did extensive renovations in 2019,” says the couple.
A modern kitchen has in fact been built on the ground floor, adjacent to a laundry room worthy of the name. The necessary space was freed up by moving the staircase towards the center of the house. The new single-string staircase, made of steel, doesn’t just connect the floors: it links the house’s past and present.
Upstairs are a large master bedroom, a guest bedroom and a full bathroom. The latter is lit by an ingenious skylight, equipped with a mirror to redirect the sun’s rays downward. A door, at the very top of the skylight, is intriguing.
“The remains of an old development,” ventures Simon Deschamps by way of explanation. “But it’s also up there where our son’s lair is. »
In the attic there is indeed a little paradise for a 13-year-old teenager, a great sportsman and fan of video games. Like a hotel suite, the room is equipped with a bathroom and a work space. “It was the master bedroom of the previous owner,” says Mr. Deschamps.
“Our son’s friends come here to play. They can stay the night; there is all the space you need,” adds Ms. Lemieux.
The size of the house allows the couple to also benefit from personal space.
So, in an outbuilding, Valérie Lemieux had a second kitchen built for her pastry business. It includes a work island, a server for its mixers, a built-in oven and space for two huge refrigerators.
“It was designed by the team from the show Des Idées de Grandeur [on the Noovo channel],” underlines Mr. Deschamps.
The latter converted the garage into a sports bar coupled with a hockey training room. The puck marks left on the walls leave no doubt as to the intensity of the exercises.
This decision was not taken lightly, confides the mother. “We love having our friends over. In their minds, our house is like their chalet. We spend our evenings chatting here or outside, around a fire,” she says.
The land, almost an acre, has an undeniable bucolic character with its pines, maples and ash trees. Part of the lawn is strewn with the fruits of a chestnut tree. Nearby, a chair hangs from the branches of a large spruce tree. A door in the fence opens onto the L’Acadie River, which flows about ten meters below. Kayakers take advantage of a boat descent, upstream, to have fun on the watercourse.
“It’s really a beautiful place. Honestly, I saw us growing old here, having our morning coffee on the large gallery. But life takes us elsewhere,” concludes Ms. Lemieux.