PUBLIC ART

The significance of the site dates back to the First Nations' inhabitation of the land. While there is little documentation of this period, archaeological finds suggest that it was a well established site for nomadic dwelling. The forested site was marked by its geographic characteristics - along an escarpment and at the base of a large ‘mound’ formation. It is surmised that this site was highly favorable due to its accessibility and the availability of vital resources, protection and strategic vistas.

The site’s significance within the colonization era is defined by the maverick immigrants that shaped the site as much as they did the evolving character of the city. In the 17th century, Marguerite Bourgeoys, a seminal figure in the history of the city and posthumously named the first female saint in Canada, founded a chapel next to the site. Located one kilometre from the then town centre, the site was conceived to be a place of pilgrimage that could provide space for prayer and reflection through the movement to and from, as much as within its walls. A few decades later, Marie Brazeau, arguably one of the first liberal feminists of the new world, ran a cabaret with her husband (the first that is, there were to be many more), becoming one of the first women with a property deed to her name, and built a wooden house on the corner lot of the site. The house was then replaced by a stone construction and was acquired and reconstructed in 1770, becoming the dwelling of Pierre du Calvet, a French Huguenot come Freemason (his Masonic symbols etched in its stone).

As the 18th century witnessed the transition from French to British colonialist rule, the 19th century was a radical period of densification and urbanization for the city. Remarkably, these forces of history are all legible on the contemporary site. The rough hewn stone of the Maison du Calvet was typical of French colonial construction. The British then imported their stone-cutting ‘technology’, and smooth greystone–as visible in the adjacent buildings on the site, becoming the new face of the quickly modernizing city.

The site in the 20th century is dominated by the dynasty of the Trottier family. In 1965, rooted in the renaissance of interest in Quebec’s French colonialist history and in “Old Montreal”, the family founded the Filles du Roy restaurant, an authentic recreation of a French tavern. The restaurant gained instant notoriety with the locals, a notoriety that quickly turned international with the advent of expo 67, and the site soon saw international figures, city visitors and locals crossing paths and breaking bread. The family started to acquire neighboring properties (now amalgamated), living, leasing, working in them for over 57 years–the last 20 of which were as the Auberge Pierre du Calvet, founded by Gaetan Trottier, 30 years after working in his parent’s restaurant. The auberge was a storied place of real and fantastic histories, whose eccentric character and family legacy still resonates within the architectural composition of the site today.