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The Legacy of Villa Les Rochers

In 1981 Villa Les Rochers was donated by Margaret Symington Eakin to the non-profit foundation The Canadian Heritage of Quebec (CHQ).

The CHQ by means of private donations has ensured its upkeep, restoration and repairs, keeping this living museum intact in all its architectural and structural integrity.

 

View of Villa Les Rochers, a large house and verandah, plus steps leading up to it, taken from the lawn. The sky is colorless.

Villa Les Rochers, 1995

 

Since 1996 this historic home has been operating as a Bed and Breakfast during the summer months. In recent years, through the efforts of CHQ, professionals and volunteers, the profile of Villa Les Rochers in the community of St. Patrick and Rivière-du-Loup has increased.

The historic significance of this house has gained recognition in the wider community, including provincial and federal government heritage and cultural departments.

Villa Les Rochers guests and visitors today have the opportunity to spend time in the rooms and outdoor spaces where the Macdonald family, and subsequent other historically significant families, lived their lives – at work and leisure – in the summer months of the mid-Victorian era.

A colour photo of a small room featuring three sets of quarter-paned windows that reveal woods, river, and sky. Inside the small room, on the viewer's side of the windows, is a small wooden table with five wooden chairs and breakfast places set for two people.

Breakfast nook at Villa Les Rochers, facing the Saint Lawrence River, 2017

 

A colour photo depicting a wide view of two aspects of a large verandah, the shaded side with chairs on it and the sunny side with two people standing at the far end.

View of the north- and west-facing verandahs, Villa Les Rochers, 2015

 

Neighbours of Villa Les Rochers include descendants of some of the first inhabitants of this Temiscouata region.

Many of today’s summer residents in and around Rivière-du-Loup continue to come to the same homes as their ancestors, and nourish their attachment to the area while cherishing the history it represents.

In the following documentary called An Architect explores Villa Les Rochers, architect Nour Riyadh Guessoum describes what makes this historic summer home unique.

An Architect explores Villa Les Rochers  View the video with its transcription

Furniture and Artefacts at Villa Les Rochers Additional Resources