How
it all started ?
We have always loved old houses. We had just finished renovating one
in Montreal - a "young" 0one of 115
years old !!
We were looking for something new... (euh, just a way of speaking)...
Maybe another old house in a smaller city with lots of charm and a closeness
to the St-Lawrence river.
Meanwhile,
our neighbor had just started a B&B....what a superb idea ... Meeting
people from all over the world at your own breakfast table !
We put these two ideas together and after a few months, succeeded in
finding another old house in Old Quebec city. This
time, the "new" house was nearly 160 years old. After much
efforts and care, we gave it a new life.
We are a
couple: an elementary school teacher and an information systems consultant.
We both have an interest in computers and the Internet world, not to
mention history, architecture and interior decorating ... and renovating
!! We are now full-time innkeepers.
Nathalie
& Paul
Old
Quebec city
May 2003
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About
the house
Our
house is located in the historic borough
a few minutes by foot to the main attractions of the old city. It
was re-built in 1846 after the great fire of 1845
that destroyed that part of the city. Houses existed on our street
then called St-Charles street as early as in the 1720's.
The St-Charles river (flowing into the St-Lawrence river nearby)
ran closely by in those years (occupying the space of St-Paul street
just behind the house) which explains why our street was then named
St-Charles. This street was renamed from St-Charles street to Saint-Vallier
street around 1890 in honor of the second bishop of Quebec
city.
View
of Cote du Palais street leading to the Du Palais gate, destroyed
in late 1890's)
(image:
John Crawford Young 1825-1827)
Fire
has always been another of the city’s scourges
On
May 28, 1845, the Saint-Roch neighborhood went up
in flames, destroying 1,630 homes and stores and over 3,000
shops and warehouses. Nearly two-thirds of the neighborhood’s
homes were lost, leaving 1,200 homeless and 50 dead. A
month later, fire struck again in the Saint-Jean Baptiste
neighborhood: two churches, three schools, and 1,300
homes burned to the ground, leaving thousands homeless.
According
to contemporary accounts, the flames could be seen from as far
away as Trois-Rivières! A full-time fire department was
set up in 1858, but this didn’t prevent other neighborhoods
from falling prey to flames in 1866, 1870, 1876, 1881, and 1889.
(source: www.ville.quebec.qc.ca)
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