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Richelieu & Ontario Navigation Co. Hotel (Manoir Richelieu Hotel)(1/1900-7/1900)
La Malbaie [Murray Bay], QC, Canada
Commercial, Hotel (5 floors, 228 rooms; 3 floors, 48 rooms, laundry, powerhouse, icehouse; stables; bowling alley); wood; composite

Client: Richelieu & Ontario Navigation Company
Architect: E. Maxwell & G.C. Shattuck

Description: The Shingle style originated in the United States and became very popular in Canada at the beginning of the twentieth century. In Canada the style was introduced on the Atlantic Coast by the Maxwells, who used it in many of their fashionable designs for summer cottages. The Shingle style was also featured in a number of country clubs and hotels, a few of which were similar in treatment to the Shingle style houses designed by the brothers in Saint-Andrews, Quebec. Examples are the Saint-Lawrence Yacht Club in Dorval (1897) and the remarkable hotel for the Richelieu & Ontario Navigation Co. in Murray Bay, now known as La Malbaie. The original Manoir Richelieu Hotel was located at Murray Bay in a splendid mountainous landscape. In 1900, the Pointe-au-Pic property, which was once part of the old Nairne Murray Bay seigniory, was sold to the Richelieu and Ontario Navigation Co. The company immediately constructed a large four-storey, cedar-shingled hotel with a 228 guest-room capacity, and called it Manoir Richelieu. The hotel’s plan was an elongated rectangular H-shaped block on the north shore of the Saint-Lawrence River. Visitors used to enter the central rotunda, which included a bar room, barber shop, and the main staircase. This huge lobby marked the symmetrical composition for the whole building, it was flanked by a north wing containing the ladies drawing room while in the south wing Edward placed dining room and the service facilities including the kitchen. The 228 rooms were on four levels and boasted spectacular views of the Saint-Lawrence River. The plan featured a double-loaded corridor distribution with the bathrooms grouped at both extremities of the intersecting wings. The third and fourth floor configured the four projecting towers of the central body of the building, which was crowned by huge hip roof with typical dormers and eyebrow dormers of the shingle style. The towers were capped with pyramidal shingled roofs marking an interesting symmetrical composition that enhanced the landscape. Perhaps the most striking and splendid element of this hotel was the ground level verandah joining the lateral wings and supporting the first floor terrace. From this beautiful space the visitors could enjoy the magnificent view of the river. The Manoir Richelieu Hotel was a careful composition of different masses with a coherent and masterful Shingle style language. Unfortunately on September 12th, 1928 at 2:00 am, the Manoir was completely consumed in flames. After three hours, all that remained of the stately hotel was a heap of ashes. After being rebuilt by architect J. S. Archibald in 1928 as a French castle following the fire, the Manoir was bought in 1998 by Canadian Pacific Hotels, which later became Fairmont Hotels and Resorts. Nestled in wooded mountains, the Manoir was rebuilt in the French Château style.

Holdings: Hotel (5 floors, 228 rooms; 3 floors, 48 rooms, laundry, powerhouse, icehouse; stables; bowling alley); wood; composite
49 Drawings: 45 ink on linen; 1 ink on paper; 2 watercolour on linen; 1 black line
24 Development drawings: site plan, foundation plan, floor plans, laundry & power house, stables, bowling alley
4 Working drawings: elevations, sections
20 Detail drawings: floor plans, elevations, laundry and power house, dining room, kitchen, bar, structure, staircases, fireplaces, doors, elevators, balustrades, fittings, fixtures, finishes, stonework, piazzas, loggias, balconies, flagstaffs
1 Consultant drawing: property plan
Comment: 1 drawing by Frederick G. Todd, Landscape Architect, Montreal, dated 30/7/1900, is included.

Comments: 1 drawing by Frederick G. Todd, Landscape Architect, Montreal, dated 30/7/1900, is included.

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