About this Event
Join friends and colleagues of the Decorative Arts community from across Canada and our host Bruce Bolton, retired Executive Director at the Macdonald Stewart Foundation, for a special tour and dinner featuring some of Québec’s most famous dishes at food stations placed throughout the Maison Louis-Joseph Forget House.
The Forget House was built in 1885 for Senator Louis-Joseph Forget, one of the leading French Canadian entrepreneurs of the early 20th century in Montréal. From humble beginnings in Terrebonne, Forget moved to Montréal and worked in one of the established Scottish investment firms and was encouraged to go out on his own, which he did with huge success. He became the first French Canadian president of the Montréal Stock Exchange and the Montréal Street Transport service, amongst many others.
The Forget House is one of the very rare Golden Square Mile houses whose interior reflects the way of life of the inhabitants of the Golden Square Mile. While the layout is different from what it would have been in the Forget era, the relationship of public to private use is easy to understand. The most public rooms - the salon, the study and the dining room were closest to the front of the house and designed to impress. Private spaces were entirely separate including the breakfast room on the main floor and bedrooms on the second floor.
In 1973 David Macdonald Stewart, of the Macdonald Tobacco company, witnessed the destruction of some of Montréal’s great Square Mile mansions. Determined to save the Forget Mansion he purchased it in 1975. It became the home of the Macdonald Stewart Foundation and was completely renovated at the turn of the 21st century.
Image above: Maison Louis-Joseph Forget House on Sherbrooke Street West
Image below: Detail of wall covering, Maison Louis-Joseph Forget House
Event Venue & Nearby Stays
La Maison Louis-Joseph Forget, 1195 Rue Sherbrooke Ouest, Montréal, Canada
CAD 0.00