E. Lafleur House(3/1912-1/1914)
Hudson Heights, QC, Canada
Residential, Country house [detached, basement, 2 floors, attic, 5 bedrooms, 2 servants' rooms]; stone; roughcast; composite

Client: Eugene Lafleur
Architect: E. & W.S. Maxwell

Description: E. Lafleur (477) commissioned the Maxwell brothers to design a country house for him in Hudson Heights, ten years after the completion of his urban house in Montreal. Lafleur, who was impressed by the grandiose residences at Sainte-Anne-de-Bellevue, wanted a Château-type country house. The initial sketches from the Maxwell brothers were unacceptable to Lafleur who found them too modest. His desires were realized in 1912. The large mansion sits amidst one hundred and twenty acres of luxurious grounds planned by landscape architect Ormston Roy. A long curving drive leads past bridle paths and pad-docks to the front of the house. The building, with its rough stone facing, consists of a main block with two wings. There are dormer windows with conical roofs set into the long, steep, red-tiled roofs. On the garden side, the central mass has a two-storey dormer window, a motif frequently used by the Maxwell brothers, notably for Bois-de-le-Roche (230) and Pine Bluff (268). Over the entrance portal, a broad dormer with eight windows disfigures the composition’s harmony. These windows are needed, however, to light the vast central hall rising the full height of the house. On the ground floor, the hall gives access to the dining room, morning room and a drawing room terminated by a large bow window opening onto a verandah. The grand stairs reach the gallery on the first floor overlooking the hall below. This gallery provides access to the five large bedrooms. The attic floor, which is accessed by the secondary stairs from the service hall next to the kitchen on the ground floor, accommodates two smaller servants’ bedrooms and a storage. In 1921, the property was sold to David E. Law who used it as a summer place. In 1940 he turned it into a permanent residence. He reorganized the interior space and added a screened porches, terraces and a new interior staircase. Later on, he altered the building, dividing it into two separate wings. This was detrimental to the interior composition, although a number of interesting elements still remain, for example, the magnificent two-storey central hall. In 1984, an advertisement in the Montreal Gazette boasted a "superb Château" where one could "escape to the old world" and "contemplate views of rolling lawns and pine forests, wherein small trout ponds await the fisherman." All this, just "35 minutes from Montreal."

Holdings: Country house (detached, basement, 2 floors, attic, 5 bedrooms, 2 servants' rooms); stone; roughcast; composite
96 Drawings: 49 ink on linen; 5 ink on paper; 19 pencil on paper; 1 watercolour on paper; 22 blueprints
6 Sketch drawings: fireplaces, openings, finishes, stained glass cartoon
15 Development drawings: floor plans, roof plan, elevations, section, fireplace, fixtures, flashing, entry gate and wall
18 Working drawings: floor plans, attic floor plan, elevations, sections, structure
38 Detail drawings: foundations, floor plan, elevation, section, tank room, bedrooms, dining room, living room, entries, structure, drainage, stairs, chimneys, mantelpieces, windows, dormer, gable, doors, fittings, fixtures, blinds, stonework, porches, entry gate and wall
19 Consultant drawings: structure and schedules
Comment: 19 drawings by Structural Steel Co. Ltd. are included.

Comments: 19 drawings by Structural Steel Co. Ltd. are included.