Monday, July 05, 2010

The Simon McTavish House





The Simon McTavish House on St. Jean Baptiste Street, which is such a narrow street that the google streetview doesn't even go down it. It's a stone's throw east of the Main from Notre Dayme to Common. 
   The slanted roof is now covered by hideous aluminum siding and one of those doors has become a window I think. It was built in 1785 by Richard Dobie and was home to great parties and some siad it was the most beauutiful house in Montreal unti it had two storeys added on top.    But by our times it was dilapidated and couldn't even find a buyer. McTavish went on to build a bigger house at McTavish south of Pine (not Ravenscrag as is sometimes said) and that was left half built because McTavish died in 1804 and it was never finished. 
   For a long time Montrealers considered the house haunted. Others say it was because vagrants squatted there and made noises to scare anybody off.

8 comments:

  1. Anonymous8:26 pm

    Is it this hotel?

    Le Guilleret?

    ReplyDelete
  2. Wow, you embedded a link in the comments, event I don't know how to do that Anonymous.

    That's not the same building but it's close.

    Reminds me, I had an interesting thing about the Manoir St. Gabriel I meant to post. From what I can tell it was demolished then rebuilt but I lost the links, I think it's in google books somewhere.

    ReplyDelete
  3. Jean Naimard1:20 am

    I thought about this one, too, but the De Vaudreuil street it is on does not go past St-Paul, and hence would not allow a view of the St-Lawrence.

    ReplyDelete
  4. Anonymous10:37 am

    Kristian, use the standard html symbols:

    < href="URL">text</a>

    Are you sure? Half the building is missing but it's a painting and to respond to Jean, it could be that the intervening buildings hadn't been built... But I'd swear that's the building. It'll be really cool to see the other candidate.

    I did a quick scan of other places I thought it might be it but no joy. :-(

    ReplyDelete
  5. Wings factory in Chinatown

    ReplyDelete
  6. Anonymous12:48 pm

    Could it be Rasco's on St. Paul? My Great-Grandpa, R.W. Shepherd, worked there slopping out the stables shortly after arriving in New France 1829.

    Patrick

    ReplyDelete
  7. Anonymous9:23 pm

    Youville stables?

    ReplyDelete
  8. Jim P9:29 pm

    Gibby's

    ReplyDelete

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