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| House of Pierre-Demers |
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Home > Visitor Information > House of Pierre-Demers
House of Pierre-DemersPierre-Demers House, commonly called the Portelance House
42 St. Anne Street
built c. 1848
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The Demers house during the time of Stanislas Portelance. |
When Pierre Demers bought the site in 1847, it was "with no building upon it built." As he was a blacksmith by trade, it is reasonable to think that he built his house and forge quickly. They were most definitely built by 1866, at which time his widow sold "a site in the village of Pointe-Claire...with a house, blacksmith shop and a stable" to their son Pierre, an iron merchant from Montreal. The property was subsequently ceded to a blacksmith, Hormidas Legault dit Deslauriers, in 1872. Legault kept it only two years before selling it to blacksmith Joseph Brunet dit Létary. It was sold again in 1909 to blacksmith and coach manufacturer Stanislas Portelance, who, with his family, kept the property until it was converted into a restaurant.
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The Demers house. |
The site's initial function as a village forge was maintained until fairly recently. Portelance modified the appearance of the house in 1944 by adding sloping roof timbers on both sides. The forge was located on the north side of the house. To the rear, Portelance used the former stable for manufacturing coaches, then truck containers.
At the time, the courtyard where horses were shod was so small that, after shoeing a horse's front hooves, the smith had to lead it out and back it into the workshop backwards to shoe its hind hooves.
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