Maison Saint-Gabriel

The Maison Saint -Gabriel is a historic building in Montreal. It is located at Place Dublin in the arrondissement of Le Sud -Ouest, and is the oldest surviving farmhouse on the Île de Montréal. Built about 1660 building houses a museum of local history. It is a listed building and is since 2007 a ​​National Historic Site.

History

François Le Ber built the house in 1660 and sold it in 1668 to the Congregation of Notre-Dame de Montréal. This was founded by Marguerite Bourgeoys congregation thereupon sent a an agricultural enterprise. Until 1673 here the Filles du Roi ( King's girls ) were included - single women, who had been sent at state expense to New France to be married with local settlers. Out of the house served as a sewing room and school. A fire destroyed the building in 1693 for the most part, five years later it was rebuilt using the original foundation walls again.

At the beginning of the 19th century the Sisters managed an area of ​​approximately 70 hectares. The products used the Order for yourself or for numerous operated by charities. After the opening of the nearby Lachine Canal increasingly dominated industrial buildings of the area. The used area decreased gradually until the Order finally stopped the farm in 1960. The Cultural Heritage Commission of the Province of Quebec, noted in 1965, the building and the adjoining barn under monument protection. In 1966, the local history museum was opened.

Building and Museum

The Maison Saint- Gabriel is a rare example of a French village architecture in Montreal. It has thick walls, composed of rough-hewn boulders. The few windows are arranged in an irregular and asymmetrical. The primary concern was the different rooms to brighten reasonable, while the architectural form was only of secondary importance. Typical of these taken from the Normandy and Brittany construction is also the steep gabled roof without shelter.

In the museum, the lifestyle of the early French settlers is presented. The collection includes over 15,000 objects. This includes household appliances, clothes, books, furniture, tools and handicraft products. Temporary exhibitions dealing with partial aspects of the settler culture.