Notman House (french: Maison Notman) is a historic building at 51
Sherbrooke Street
Sherbrooke Street (officially in french: rue Sherbrooke) is a major east–west artery and at in length, is the second longest street on the Island of Montreal. The street begins in the town of Montreal West and ends on the extreme tip of ...
West in
Montreal
Montreal ( ; officially Montréal, ) is the second-most populous city in Canada and most populous city in the Canadian province of Quebec. Founded in 1642 as '' Ville-Marie'', or "City of Mary", it is named after Mount Royal, the triple ...
,
Quebec
Quebec ( ; )According to the Canadian government, ''Québec'' (with the acute accent) is the official name in Canadian French and ''Quebec'' (without the accent) is the province's official name in Canadian English is one of the thirtee ...
, near the
Golden Square Mile / ''Mille carré doré''
, native_name_lang =
, settlement_type = Neighbourhood
, image_skyline = Ravenscrag.jpg
, image_alt =
, image_caption = '' Ravenscrag'', built for Sir Hugh Allan ...
. Completed in 1845 for
Sir William Collis Meredith, the house takes its name from the celebrated photographer,
William Notman
William Notman (8 March 1826 – 25 November 1891) was a Scottish-Canadian photographer and businessman. The Notman House in Montreal was his home from 1876 until his death in 1891, and it has since been named after him.
Biography
Notman ...
, who lived there with his family from 1876 until his death in 1891. The house is the only surviving residence of its era on Sherbrooke Street, and one of
Quebec
Quebec ( ; )According to the Canadian government, ''Québec'' (with the acute accent) is the official name in Canadian French and ''Quebec'' (without the accent) is the province's official name in Canadian English is one of the thirtee ...
's few residential examples of
Greek Revival architecture. It was classified as an historical monument and added to the
Répertoire du patrimoine culturel du Québec
The Quebec Cultural Heritage Directory (French: ''Répertoire du patrimoine culturel du Québec'') is an online cultural heritage knowledge dissemination tool for the province of Quebec. The directory is maintained by the province's Ministry of C ...
on December 8, 1979.
History
![Maison William-Notman 04](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/e/e4/Maison_William-Notman_04.jpg)
The house was built for
William Collis Meredith
Sir William Collis Meredith, (23 May 1812 – 26 February 1894) was Chief Justice of the Superior Court for the Province of Quebec from 1866 to 1884. In 1844, he was offered but refused the positions of Solicitor General of Canada and then Att ...
, the future
Chief Justice of the
Superior Court for the
Province of Quebec
Quebec ( ; )According to the Canadian government, ''Québec'' (with the acute accent) is the official name in Canadian French and ''Quebec'' (without the accent) is the province's official name in Canadian English is one of the thirteen p ...
. In 1843, Meredith, then a 31-year-old bachelor, commissioned
John Wells to build him a new home beyond the confines of
Old Montreal
Old Montreal (French: ''Vieux-Montréal'') is a historic neighbourhood within the municipality of Montreal in the province of Quebec, Canada. Home to the Old Port of Montreal, the neighbourhood is bordered on the west by McGill Street, on th ...
. Wells was then one of the best-known
English
English usually refers to:
* English language
* English people
English may also refer to:
Peoples, culture, and language
* ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England
** English national ide ...
architects in
Montreal
Montreal ( ; officially Montréal, ) is the second-most populous city in Canada and most populous city in the Canadian province of Quebec. Founded in 1642 as '' Ville-Marie'', or "City of Mary", it is named after Mount Royal, the triple ...
, whose work included the
Head Office of the Bank of Montreal, Prince of Wales Terrace, and the Sainte Anne Market that housed the
Canadian Parliament at Montreal until it was burnt down in the
riots of 1849.
Meredith's new home was completed in 1845 within la Côte-à-Baron on Sherbrooke Street, then just a quiet country lane. The Meredith house was approached by a
horseshoe driveway
A driveway (also called ''drive'' in UK English) is a type of private road for local access to one or a small group of structures, and is owned and maintained by an individual or group.
Driveways rarely have traffic lights, but some that bear ...
that was afterwards pushed back as Sherbrooke Street became a main
thoroughfare
A thoroughfare is a primary passage or way as a transit route through regularly trafficked areas, whether by road on dry land or, by
extension, via watercraft or aircraft. On land, a thoroughfare may refer to anything from a multi-lane highwa ...
. Meredith's house neighboured Belmont Hall, the
Molson family
The Molson family of Montreal, Quebec, Canada, was founded by John Molson, who immigrated to Canada in 1782 from his home in Lincolnshire, England. They are considered to be one of Canada's most prominent business families with a combined net w ...
home that once stood on the site today occupied by the gas station seen on the other side of Clark Street.
In 1849, a judicial promotion took Meredith to
Quebec City
Quebec City ( or ; french: Ville de Québec), officially Québec (), is the capital city of the Canadian province of Quebec. As of July 2021, the city had a population of 549,459, and the metropolitan area had a population of 839,311. It is t ...
. He leased the house to several prominent Montrealers including
Thomas Evans Blackwell, President of the
Grand Trunk Railway
The Grand Trunk Railway (; french: Grand Tronc) was a railway system that operated in the Canadian provinces of Quebec and Ontario and in the American states of Connecticut, Maine, Michigan, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, and Vermont. The rail ...
, before selling it to a grandson of
John Molson
John Molson (December 28, 1763 – January 11, 1836) was an English-born brewer and entrepreneur in colonial Quebec, which during his lifetime became Lower Canada. In addition to founding Molson Brewery, he built the first steamship and the fir ...
- Alexander Molson (1830-1897) - who had grown up at the neighbouring Belmont Hall. In 1876, Molson sold the house to
William Notman
William Notman (8 March 1826 – 25 November 1891) was a Scottish-Canadian photographer and businessman. The Notman House in Montreal was his home from 1876 until his death in 1891, and it has since been named after him.
Biography
Notman ...
, the celebrated
Scottish photographer whose collection of over 450,000 photographs form the basis of the
Notman Photographic Archives
The Notman Photographic Archives (french: Archives photographiques Notman) is an archive of photographic images originally collected by photographer William Notman. It is conserved by the McCord Museum of Canadian History in Montreal, Quebec. Ins ...
kept at the
McCord Museum in Montreal. It is from him that the house takes its name today, and he lived here with his family until his death in 1891.
After Notman's death, the property was purchased by
Sir George Alexander Drummond, a wealthy
philanthropist and future President of the
Bank of Montreal. In 1894, Drummond purchased the house in order to donate it and its land to the
Anglican community of the Sisters of St. Margaret. Based on the plans of the architect
Sir Andrew Thomas Taylor, they enlarged the house and built a hospital known as ''St. Margaret's Home for Incurables'' that was able to accommodate 50 patients. The Sisters of St. Margaret operated the hospital for almost a century until 1991, when financial responsibility for operating St. Margaret's passed from the Drummond Trusts to the
Government of Quebec, and a new ''Centre d'Accueil St. Margaret'' was established at 50 Hillside Avenue in
Westmount.
In January 2011, the OSMO Foundation leased Notman House, making it available to internet entrepreneurs, early stage venture capitalists and the general public. On December 19, 2012, the OSMO Foundation acquired the property with the help of municipal, provincial and federal government grants, as well as private sponsors.
Architecture
The architect,
John Wells, stipulated that the
neo-classical structure was to be constructed almost entirely with local materials, from the stone to the mortar which was made with sand from the
Saint Lawrence River
The St. Lawrence River (french: Fleuve Saint-Laurent, ) is a large river in the middle latitudes of North America. Its headwaters begin flowing from Lake Ontario in a (roughly) northeasterly direction, into the Gulf of St. Lawrence, connectin ...
.
The house had an inner court that was filled with greenery, and according to the 1991 ''
Montreal Gazette
The ''Montreal Gazette'', formerly titled ''The Gazette'', is the only English-language daily newspaper published in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. Three other daily English-language newspapers shuttered at various times during the second half of th ...
'' article on the Notman House, 'the central hall plan of the house - symmetrically placed grand rooms off a generous corridor - followed the tradition of
aristocratic
Aristocracy (, ) is a form of government that places strength in the hands of a small, privileged ruling class, the aristocrats. The term derives from the el, αριστοκρατία (), meaning 'rule of the best'.
At the time of the word' ...
domestic architecture in both Britain and the United States'. The
portico is decorated with
palmette
The palmette is a motif in decorative art which, in its most characteristic expression, resembles the fan-shaped leaves of a palm tree. It has a far-reaching history, originating in ancient Egypt with a subsequent development through the art o ...
s and
rosettes. The house is considered a fine example of
Greek Revival architecture and a typical example of several of the grand houses that once lined Sherbrooke Street in the
Golden Square Mile / ''Mille carré doré''
, native_name_lang =
, settlement_type = Neighbourhood
, image_skyline = Ravenscrag.jpg
, image_alt =
, image_caption = '' Ravenscrag'', built for Sir Hugh Allan ...
from the 1840s.
OSMO Foundation
The OSMO Foundation is a non-profit organization that aims to facilitate the transfer of knowledge, experience and relationships within the tech community in Montreal. Founded by members of the web community in Montreal, including investors, technology and media executives, the OSMO Foundation has spearheaded the Notman House initiative by financing the project through grants, sponsorships, and loans from government and private sponsors.
Since opening as a proof of concept in January 2011, the Notman Project has become a showcase for collaboration and the landmark in Montreal's startup scene. It is one of the five strategic innovation initiatives supported by The City of Montreal and became a pillar of the Strategy for Entrepreneurship announced by the Quebec Government in November 2011. In 2015, they started a brand new project titled Develop
Cuba
Cuba ( , ), officially the Republic of Cuba ( es, República de Cuba, links=no ), is an island country comprising the island of Cuba, as well as Isla de la Juventud and several minor archipelagos. Cuba is located where the northern Caribbea ...
, to improve the tech startup industry in the technologically isolated country.
Notman House is also an event space. Non-profit events related to web and mobile are hosted free of charge. Examples include events such as hackathons and meetup groups. Since 2011, the house has hosted over 150 events.
Apart from having a number of paid co-working spaces, Notman House also has a cafe area, which can be used free of charge by those working on web and mobile projects.
Notman
How can Notman help you with your project?" These initiatives were designed with the hope of attracting people in the web and mobile space under one roof. This is the idea behind the tagline "Home of the web", which was chosen by the OSMO Foundation.
See also
* Lady Meredith House, another historic home in Montreal built for the son of Meredith's first cousin
*Golden Square Mile / ''Mille carré doré''
, native_name_lang =
, settlement_type = Neighbourhood
, image_skyline = Ravenscrag.jpg
, image_alt =
, image_caption = '' Ravenscrag'', built for Sir Hugh Allan ...
, a nearby historic mansion district
References
External links
Official Website of Notman House
{{commons category, Maison William-Notman
Houses in Montreal
Residential buildings completed in 1845
Le Plateau-Mont-Royal
Greek Revival houses in Canada
Heritage buildings of Quebec
John Wells (architect) buildings