Jacynthe Drummondville House

This beautiful property, also known as “La vieille maison”, is part of Quebec’s cultural heritage and now houses Maison Jacynthe. Its history… 209 Brock Street is a luxurious residence built between 1878 and 1884 for Joseph-Trefflé Caya, the clerk of the Drummondville court and secretary-treasurer of the Drummond County Council. At the time, the property included a vast park that extended to Lindsay Street, a fountain, large trees, and several varieties of shrubs. It is located on a vast lot forming a natural promontory in downtown Drummondville. In 1908, Mr. Joseph-Ovide Brouillard, an industrialist and lumber merchant, Liberal MNA for Drummond-Arthabaska from 1911 to 1920 and mayor of Drummondville from 1912 to 1914, acquired the house and outbuildings for the sum of $3,600. The Brouillards often opened their home to prestigious guests. To welcome them in style, they renovated the interior and exterior of the house at great expense, embellished the garden and planted flowers on the terraces. In the following years, the house was sold to J.-Ovila Montplaisir who completely renovated it. Mr. Montplaisir, who arrived in Drummondville in 1897, was first a wholesale grocer in 1915 and then, in 1917, he became the first automobile dealer in the region, and between 1918 and 1920, mayor of Drummondville. Over time, the Joseph-Trefflé-Caya house lost its residential function and became commercial, a restaurant was opened there and several others succeeded it. Its architecture... The Joseph-Trefflé-Caya house is a bourgeois residence in the Victorian eclecticism movement. In Quebec, houses designed in this spirit belonged to notables and other wealthy people who wanted to stand out. The residence consists of a rectangular brick main building with one and a half stories. It is topped with a gabled roof. Featuring neo-Gothic elements, a central gable and two gabled dormers articulate the roof. A large curvilinear gallery, adorned with decorative woodwork and wooden lacework, extends across the entire front facade. Three additional brick volumes, one with a gabled roof and the other two with a flat roof, are attached to the rear of the building. The grounds of the residence also include a stable (later converted into a garage) with a central gable flanked by dormers. Please note that this heritage property received the Mitchell Award in 2001. A plaque is attached to the house with this inscription: Mitchell Award 2001 For the protection and enhancement of built heritage in the “Recycling” category, awarded to the building located at 209 Brock Street, for respecting its integrity. City of Drummondville in collaboration with the main streets corp. Sources: https://www.patrimoine-culturel.gouv.qc.ca/rpcq/detail.do?methode=consulter&id=93448&type=bien https://histoiredrummond.com/publications/articles-historiques/le-209-rue-brock-a-lepoque-des-brouillard/ https://www.waymarking.com/waymarks/WMXD49_209_rue_Brock_209_Brock_Street_Drummondville_Qubec