A small house has disappeared

Photo courtesy of Daniel Heikalo, the small house of The 2106, rue Cartier, January 1, 1983. Photo Chantal Poirier

Centre d’histoire de Montréal, in collaboration

Saturday, 3 march, 2018 18:05

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Saturday, 3 march, 2018 18:05

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Live in a shoe box

On the morning of January 1, 1983, Daniel Heikalo takes a snapshot of the small house, colourful, 2106 Cartier street, now gone. Worthy of a stage set in miniature, the only thing missing is the alarm clock of the characters to animate the scene. The first resident of this home built in 1921 is Urgel Lacombe, a young labourer of 17, the future husband of Miss Graziella Side. Mansions typical of working-class neighbourhoods, the houses in shoe boxes reveal the life lived by these Montreal recently installed in the city at the turn of the 20th century. All means are good to save for the construction of these modest dwellings : the use of newspaper for insulation of walls in the “samples” of planks on the building sites, factories or even old rails to strengthen the frame. From the resourcefulness of their first occupants, the houses in shoe boxes, though small, provide access to the property single-family, and this well before the model of the suburbs of the post-war period.

On a roof Boomtown

If the cornice reflects a pace well in montreal, as the porch to the roof sheet metal has nothing to envy to that of a country house. This facade of “postiche” is indicative of the style of Boomtown.

As its name indicates, it is born with the cities and the villages fungi with high growth rates with the introduction of railways, industries, mining or forestry operations. Economic, the houses Boomtown one or two storeys are supported by a frame of timber, covered with wood paneling or brick and with a flat roof crowned with a cornice or parapet.

In Quebec, they have sheltered generations of working-class families or small business owners. The house of Cartier street houses certainly a beer lover, in 1983, as shown in the logo of Budweiser Light Light in the center of the cornice and the Laurentide to the side of the left door.

To balconville

This day of the Year without snow discovers the pots of flowers and garden furniture unpretentious. In Montreal, the location of the houses in shoe boxes on the batch varies. Some have preferred to build their own small home not far from the sidewalk. Others have built-aligned on the line back of the field. This leaves room for a large lawn to the front and a slot for a parking lot. Heir of an ancient rural tradition, the rear of the dwelling is a private place, reserved for the women to work, to the kitchen, the balcony overlooking the shed and the clothesline. Joining the public space, the front yard is a true extension of the balcony, where take place the discussions between neighbors and the looks equivocal launched to passers-by. These spaces are coveted in the city, the house shoe box of Cartier street and his yard disappear in 2011 to make way for a condo project.