A Little #VerdunLuv in the pages of The Gazette

Montreal's English daily newspaper celebrates some of the high point's on Verdun's high street, known locally as "La Well".

Had a lovely time visiting with reporter and former colleague Susan Semenak at Verdun's Café La Tazza, where owner Johanne Minicucci offers a warm welcome and a frothy cappuccino. So much to love about my neighborhood.

Here's a link, for however long it is good. http://montrealgazette.com/life/wellington-st-has-come-alive-since-verdun-ended-its-dry-era

The Wrecking Ball Swings on May Street.

Today was the day. May St,'s Victorian houses are coming down to make way for the new Champlain Bridge. Le Messager has photos and some details.

Come and Gone and Gone Again

The story of the little house on Newmarch St. has another chapter. As it turned out, my young buyer was up against a contractor when he put in his winning bid. He had ambitious plans to expand the little house by building a mostly glass addition in the front yard and connecting it to the old house by covered walkway.

The contractor didn't give up easily. After the sale was finalized, his agent contacted me and asked whether my buyer would be willing to sign over his accepted promise to purchase in return for a financial consideration. As it turns out, my buyer was willing to do that. The original vendors also agreed to allow the buyer with whom they had struck the deal to cede his rights to the new guy. Everything was done on the up and up.

The contractor offered to allow my vendors to stay in the house rent free for an extra month. As for the young buyer, he made a little somethin' somethin' selling the house before he even owned it.

Turns out the contractor bought a similar property next door to our dollhouse. Sadly, he will be tearing both properties down in order to build a condo complex.

There's no doubt that the project will make more efficient use of the land but I'm sad knowing that a little bit of Verdun's small-town past, a few trees and the birds who lived in them will be disappearing from the landscape.

Progress.

Come and Gone!

I sold a couple a cute little house on Newmarch St. in Verdun five years ago. It was a dollhouse, barely more than 900 square feet on two floors, as rustic as a country cottage and with a big fenced yard out front with a vegetable garden. It was perfect for a young couple just starting out.

Next time I saw them, they had two little ones, aged 3 and 16 months, and the little house was as cute as ever but now bursting at the seams with toys and baby paraphenalia.

The little house on Newmarch went back on the market and, with just s few weeks, caught the eye of another buyer who fell for its rustic charm, quiet yet central location and the big fenced yard.

Listed at $298,000. Sold at $280,000 in no time flat!

Verdun's Histroic May St. a Casualty of the new Champlain Bridge

Here's an update from the March of Progress file. The design of the "new" Champlain Bridge was released this week. It looks like a beauty and anyone who lives in Verdun or travels from southwest Montreal or the South Shore by car is no doubt excited about the relief a new and not decrepit bridge will bring.

Sadly, La Presse reports this morning that 16 homes on May St. will be demolished as part of the project.

Amy Barratt and I have spent more than a little time on May St., having sold two big and solid Victorian homes on the street in recent years. I have to say, it makes me a little sad to think of all that history being lost to the bulldozers.

Here's a previous post about the street's history.  And another.

It is true, the elevated part of the approach to the Champlain Bridge now cuts right past the second floor of these beauties, creating a steady rumble of traffic noise and a constant fine sifting of dust. Still, people learned to live with their front windows closed and to enjoy the quiet and cool that two-foot thick stone walls afford.

The Journal de Montréal on the Delights of Verdun's Wellington St.

 The Journal has a nice spread with photos talking about Verdun's renaissance and especially about our vibrant main drag, Wellington, or "la Well" as apparently the hipsters are calling it.

'Tis true that not so long ago the only reason you'd see mention of Verdun in the local papers was if someone set fire to a building in an insurance scam, got shot or a patient at the Douglas Hospital wandered off the grounds. Those days are gone.

Now, thanks to its affordable housing, excellent public transit and proximity to the beautiful St. Lawrence River, Verdun is attracting young families and enrepreneurs with plenty of ideas and energy.

Fromagerie Copette + Cie

The Journal talks about some of great boutiques and restaurants: Boulangerie Sweet Lee's, Copette + cie, a fancy cheese shop with excellent bread and Belgian waffles on the weekend, Benelux, the artisanal brasserie in the old Bank of Montreal building, Blackstrap BBQ and Station W, recently voted one of Montreal's top 10 cafes.

Station W

Why would anyone want to live anywhere else?

Verdun to Get an Aquatic Centre

Fantastic news out of Verdun borough hall today. The local council has been quietly working towards building an indoor aquatic centre since 2009. Today, they've gone public with a budget - $18.6 million - and a projected opening date - 2016.

The complex will be built in Therrien Park, a riverside park in the south east corner of the borough. It's the last park before you hit Highway 15 South to Nuns' Island. Therrien Park already has baseball diamonds, football fields, tennis courts, a skateboard park, an outdoor pool and wading pool with water features, a playground, chalet and dog park. 

The park is also close to the Verdun Auditorium, a sometime home to junior hockey, heavy metal concerts and pro wrestling bouts. The borough is looking at redeveloping the Aud to get more use out of the arena. This could be the beginning of a new cultural and sporting axis in southwest Montreal. Woot woot!

Verdun already possesses one of the nicest outdoor pool complexes in Montreal. Our Art Deco Natatorium, built in the 1930s, was at one time considered the largest public swimming complex in Canada. It was built during the Depression and finished in 1940. Olympic swimming gold medalist Johnny Weismuller, who was also the star of the Tarzan movies, inaugurated the Nat in 1940. For indoor swimming, Verduners have had to use pools inside local high schools.

Today, the Nat has  a heating wading pool. Navi, a kayak-rental company, operates from a kiosk outside the Nat all summer long. It remains a beautiful swimming pool, with sight lines on the blue water of the St. Lawrence River.  Dreaming of summer. . .

Verdun Love

 Life in Verdun means life lived in rhythm with the mighty St. Lawrence. The sun rises over the open water and at night the moon casts a silver bright light on the rippling current. It is even beautiful in winter, though the boardwalk is buried under feet of snow.

photo credit: Comité embellissement Verdun

Beer At Last! Beer At Last! Thank God Almighty, Beer At Last!

After years of discussion, zoning changes, bylaw amendments, renovation and false starts, Verdun's first honest to gosh drinking establishment has opened its doors on Wellington St. Here's a report from those nice CBC radio people.

 Plus, a somewhat boring video tour.
  

Benelux, an authentic brewpub, has taken over the auspices of the former Bank of Montreal, near the corner of de l'Eglise, or Church St., as the old timers say.

A well-placed MontReal Estate reader, reports that for now the pub is only serving its house blonde but that should change as Benelux gets up to full speed.

A great event in Verdun history. The town, then city, then borough of Verdun has been officially dry for about 100 years.  It is a sign of changing times and changing demographics that  an upscale drinking hole is the first, and for now only, bar allowed to operate.

Free the Blackstrap BBQ Sign!!

Blackstrap BBQ sign, stolen shamelessly from their Twitter page @bbqblackstrap

There's a bit of a brouhaha in the Twitterverse involving Verdun's buzziest new restaurant Blackstrap BBQ.

The Wellington St. eatery is getting rave reviews for its authentic Memphis style ribs, brisket, pulled pork and such. Everything is smoked daily on the premises. As we say here in Quebec "Omnomnomnom."

It's great to see energetic young entrepreneurs making a go of it on our main drag, Wellington St. Given the number of slice pizza joints and 99-cent hot dog emporia, Blackstrap represents a quantum step up in quality. Just what a gentrifying neighborhood needs.

To make a long story short, controversy has erupted over Blackstrap's distinctive new sign. Apparently it falls outside the borough's regulations for signage. Language, you ask? No. Plywood. Verdun doesn't permit plywood signage. Too "ghetto", in the words of Blackstrap co-owner Clara Barron.

Word spread through the social media world, with the good folks over at the Decouvrir/Discover Verdun Facebook page (an invaluable resource for people interested in local doings) voicing outrage over the borough's small-mindedness. 

As several posters pointed out, this kind of nitpicking is no way to encourage small business. Photos of ugly storefronts were posted on the FB page, none of which appear to offend the delicate sensibilities of Verdun's signage tastemakers.

A few minutes ago, Blackstrap's Barron posted a Twitter update, saying that the SDC Wellington (Société de développement commercial) will go to bat for Blackstrap and try to persuade the borough council to approve the sign.

A happy ending? Not quite yet, but maybe. Now go get some brisket.

When Verdun banned short shorts.

Thanks to Nadine over at the Decouvrir Verdun Facebook page who dug up this Radio-Canada news report from 1963. Listen as a tight-laced civic leader discusses a new bylaw banning the wearing of "short, short shorts."  The report is filmed at the Natatorium, Verdun's lovely and well-used swimming complex on the edge of the St. Lawrence River. Local youths weigh in over whether they are for the rule or against it. Opinion seems to run against the anti-short shorts rule, especially among the teenaged boys. 

Montreal Heritage Home Tour - We're In!

Tomorrow kicks off Montreal's annual Architectural Heritage campaign celebrating  the best of the city's architecture.
The line of activities includes lectures, museum exhibits, as well as walking and bus tours exploring the city's many way cool neighborhoods. If I could, I'd do the walking tour of the Point tomorrow. Alas, it conflicts with my sprog's soccer practice and soccer practice wins.
The good news is that my listing at 276 May St., Verdun has been selected by the jury for this year's heritage tour. 276 May is one of the oldest homes in Verdun. We have deeds going back to 1891, when the land was sold to a Mr. May. He built his house in 1895.
Too bad that in the late 1950s some urban planning fool decided it would be a good idea to build the elevated approach to the Champlain Bridge about 100 feet from the building's front stoop. Here's the way I look at it, 276 May was  there 70 years before they built the bridge and it will be there 100 years after the bridge is scrapped. It was built to last.
It has also been lovingly restored and updated by my client. I don't feel the least bit self-conscious in proclaiming it one the prettiest houses in Verdun. Hell, it is one of the prettiest houses in Montreal.
We've printed enlarged images of some of the original deeds to show during the open house visit from 1-4 p.m. on Sunday, Oct. 2 and again on Oct. 9. We're expecting a big turnout. Bring your cheque book in case you want to make an offer. At $339,000 it is verrrry nicely priced.
You can check out the other activities on between October 1 and Oct. 13 here,

A Page from Montreal History

Original handwritten deed dating  from 1891 for the sale of what is now 276 May St., Verdun.

Sometimes I get to brush up against history as I go about my business as a real estate agent.  The vendor of the property at 276 May St., Verdun has a stack of deeds going all the way back to when the land was originally subdivided into building lots back in 1891.

The spidery cursive has faded somewhat over the last 110 years, but it is still legible.  If you read all the deeds you get a sense of the evolution of a neighborhood, because each deed has the name and occupation of both the seller and the buyer.  This property passed through the hands of a career military man  to a mechanical superintendant and later from shopkeeper to a mechanic and from him to a labourer and then to a nurse's aide and so on and so on.

What I like about this particular deed is that many of the names, probably obscure in their time, now have deep roots and resonance in Verdun and neighboring Point St. Charles. I quote:

On This Sixth day of March, one thousand eight hundred and ninety one.  Before the undersigned Public Notary for the Province of Quebec, in the Dominion of Canada, residing in the City of Montreal Came and Appeared John Samuel Knox of Rozel, Ryde, Isle of Wight, England a Lieutenant-Colonel in Her Majesty's service, in his capacity as sole Executor of and universal legatee under the Last Will and Testament of the late Robert Knox of Rushbrooke, near Coleraine, in Ireland.

 Knox, Rozel, Ryde and Coleraine are all names of nearby streets in the Point.   Mr. Knox sold the land to an Edward May of New Brunswick.  In turn Mr. May gave his name to the street on which he built a string of stout and respectable stone and brick houses.  The house I'm selling is near the corner of May and Rushbrooke.

The things you can learn if you just stop to read the fine print.

By the way,  the original deed of sale specifies that the buyer cannot build a slaughterhouse, tannery or soapworks on the premises. I guess NIMBYism - Not In My Back Yard - is not a 20th cerntury invention.

A Second Chance for a Verdun Beauty.

Have you ever seen the movie where the guy walks right past the girl without noticing her just because she's wearing her hair in a bun and has oversized glasses?
You know the drill. Fast forward to the next scene when the girl shows up in a party dress, her hair down and the glasses stowed away in her clutch purse, Not only does the guy notice her, he falls head over heels.
Ladies and gentlemen, I have the real estate equivalent of that girl for your cosideration. Welcome to, 276 May,Verdun, an old-fashioned Victorian beauty ready to dazzle all comers.
Amy Barratt and I listed this house for sale earlier this year. There was one big problem - a house full of university tenants had turned this gracious property into Animal House. No, that's letting them off too easy.  It was like Animal House crossed with an episode of Hoarders. Beer bottles e-v-e-r-y-w-h-e-r-e.  Overflowing ashtrays, dirty clothes, kitty litter boxes that had never been changed.  The place was grotty beyond compare. It was so grotty that we couldn't get good photos of the interior.The tenants were so uncooperative that we had trouble getting in for showings. When we did get in, we lived in terror of opening a door and finding goodness knows who doing goodness knows what.

Valiantly we pointed out the building's good bones, its high ceilings, elegant staircase and generous proportions. We sang the praises of its six-foot-plus basement and its solid stone foundation.  All buyers saw was filth and disorder. They fled.
Our vendor decided to take the property off the market at least until the slovenly tenants were gone. She was convinced she could make the place sparkle if she just had a little time to apply soap and water and take care of a few renos. I was a little discouraged and skeptical.
Well shut my mouth. The students left July 1, leaving only four pick-up trucks worth of empties, broken furniture and garbage in their wake, Our vendor spent three weeks cleaning, painting and doing touch-ups. She upgraded the kitchen and bathroom, did some rewiring, tore out laminate and replaced it with new hardwood. It is hardly the same place at all. And yet it is.
Voila 276 May, priced at $345,000.  You can see the full listing by entering MLS # 8587771 at www.realtor.ca .
This is a spectacular house and certainly the best-priced four-bedroom in southwest Montreal. It is a two-minute walk to the LaSalle metro stop (green line), around the corner from Wellington St. and the Maxi grocery. It is also super close to the Champlain Bridge, for better and worse.

Ah yes, for better and for worse. You will you enjoy quick access to the bridge from May St., the last street in Verdun before you duck under the viaduct into Point St. Charles.  May St. faces that viaduct and traffic approaching the bridge passes a little above the second storey window though about 60 feet across the way. Hey, I hear the Champlain is coming down one of these days.
If you'd like to read my previous blog rant on the filthy tenants, click here.
We are having an open house Sunday, August 7, 2011 from 2-4 p.m. Please drop by. Sunday's no good? Give me a call  at 515 978-6522 and we'll arrange a visit.

Location, location, location.

I was interviewed in The Gazette recently about choosing the right location. What I had to say boiled down to "One man's fish is another man's fowl." Or something like it.

A Dispatch from a Plateau Lifer on his New Life in Verdun

A Facebook message arrived this morning from one of my clients, reporting on life his Verdun home, after a 27-year tenancy in the Plateau Mont-Royal. I'm not even going to try to tell you what a beautiful three-bedroom home they got for about the price of a two-bedroom Plateau flat. It would make you jealous.

Moving is always stressful and exhausting but it hasn't taken Jim long to twig to the good things Verdun has to offer. He's already a regular at The Woodland Restaurant, lauded in last Saturday's Gazette as a source for authentic Montreal pizza. Hey Jim, try Pizza Mory next time. It's always two-for-one. Make sure you ask for sesame seeds on the crust. But there I go, assuming you were ordering 'za.

The other thing Jim remarked on was the quiet pleasure of enjoying coffee at his dining room table on that first morning and watching a cardinal in his backyard tree just a few metres away. That never happened once in 27 years on the Plateau, a place known for its $5 lattés and drab little sparrows.

"I guess we're not in Kansas anymore," Jim observed in his deadpan way.

Wait a few weeks, Jim. The red-winged blackbirds will invade the hedgerows and you'll find yourself staring at them like a yokel.

During our first week in Verdun four years ago, we sprawled en famille  on the back lawn to stare at the stars in the inky midsummer sky. Our previous back yard was tiny with no lawn to speak of and tall buildings all around. The stars were virtually invisible because of the inner-city streetlights.

All of a sudden - what the heck! - fireflies. Fireflies in our backyard.  I felt like we'd hit the jackpot. Quiet nights, fathomless darkness and now lightning bugs doodling through the cooling air. We were home.

Welcome home Jim and Winnie!

A Tale of Two Houses or What a Difference a Little Elbow Grease Can Mean

Just listed a spacious four-bedroom Victorian house on May St in Verdun this week. If that sounds oddly familiar, it is because my last post said essentially the same thing.

I now have two big ol' Victorians side-by-side on May, the last street in Verdun before you cross under the overpass into Point St. Charles.

The house at 276 May, listed at $299,000, is quite similar to its neighbor at 282. Built about the same time, on land that once belonged to a Mr. May. The big difference is that 276 is currently rented to a pack of university students who appear not to be earning advanced degrees in Pick Up Your Dirty Laundry or Take the Empties Back to the Dep.

OK, the place is a pig sty, but if you can see past the dirty clothes and unmade beds, this is a genteel house, as straight-backed and solid as your maiden aunt. It just needs a little love, Charlie Brown.

Below you will find a photo of the fireplace in the living room, currently inhabited by a hairy undergrad whose decorating style runs to crumpled Kleenex and pants that lie where they were dropped.  You might not notice the fireplace because his huge TV is sitting in front of it. Sigh.

The point is that this four-bedroom has the potential to be every bit as regal and inviting as its gussied up sister next door. Might you be the person with the passion and vision to bring out all its best features? It is a quality house at a bargain price.

The tenants, by the way, are leaving at the end of June.  Not a moment too soon.

Spectacular Verdun Victorian

The parlor with its tile-fronted fireplace and the stairs leading to the bedrooms.

Take a look at this spectacular four-bedroom Victorian just listed by Amy Barratt and me. The asking price is $359,000.

UPDATE: The price has been reduced to $349,000.

The vendor has deeds, many of them handwritten in spidery cursive, going back to the late 1880s. This is a rock-solid house with brick walls and a stone foundation. The four real bedrooms on the second floor feature high ceilings and generous proportions.

The reception rooms on the main floor include a large formal parlor with a tile-fronted fireplace, a family room which was probably once the formal dining room, a dinette and kitchen. The main floor also has a water closet (toilet) near the front door, as well as a full laundry room and an open office area near the back door. There's plenty of natural light and it is surprisingly quiet, thanks no doubt to the thick stone walls and the triple-glazed windows.

The house has original woodwork throughout, hot-water radiators, lovely stained glass windows added by the owner, as well as thoughtfully chosen light fixtures that accent the property's vintage character.

Family room and dinette. The laundry room is beyond the stained-glass doors.

The owner is a gifted interior designer and something of a bulldog when it comes to home maintenance and repairs. Over the course of her decade-long tenancy, she has undertaken at least one major improvement a year - furnace, roof, windows and doors, painting, etc. Her most recent investment was an interior french drain and waterproofing of the basement. The basement is more than 6 feet, high and dry. It could be finished, if someone was so inclined.

The property has a small fenced yard which could be also be used for parking, though street parking is not a problem in this part of Verdun. May Ave. is the last street off of Wellington St. before you cross under the viaduct into Point St. Charles. The Maxi grocery store is one short block away. LaSalle metro is about two blocks away. It is a quick 15-20 minutes door to door to get downtown via public transit.

If you look around Verdun, $359,000 is a typical asking price for a two- or three-bedroom post-war cottage. They are cute and cozy but nowhere near as spacious or as grand as this Victorian beauty. This property is priced at a market discount because traffic approaching the Champlain Bridge pass overhead not too far from the building's front. It isn't particularly noisy, but the location isn't going to be for everyone.

Exterior from the corner of May Ave. and Rushbrooke St.

If you are in the market for a lovingly restored Victorian that has both acres of elbow room and impeccable bones, this could be the house for you. Give me a call at (514) 978-6522 to book a visit. You won't regret it.

Buying a Fixer Upper

A lovely feature story on my Springland listing in Ville Émard, with tips for those interested in buying a fixer-upper. The printed story had way more photos.
I'm having and open house from 2 p.m. to 4 p.m.

Verdun Loosening the Rules on Alcohol Sales

Fantastic news out of the latest Verdun borough council meeting. Mayor Claude Trudel is talking about loosening zoning rules with an eye to making it possible to open watering holes on the Wellington St., Verdun's main commercial drag.
 This is a very big deal. For years, Verdun and St. Lambert shared the distinction of being Quebec's only officially dry towns. Despite a steady influx of good, even great, eateries, there isn't a single bar, tavern, brasserie, night club or cabaret in Verdun. For decades, mayors used temperance laws to keep them out. Things got a little easier in 1996, when the rules were loosened to allow establishments to serve strong drink if a patron also ordered food.
Mayor Trudel thinks Verdun needs to get with the times. La Presse quotes him as saying that a microbrewery would be a  welcome addition to Wellington St. The borough is experiencing a big influx of young first-time home buyers, entrepreneurs and immigrants looking for neighborhood amenities that reflect their lifestyles.
"A microbrewery is modern and it responds to a demand," Trudel said. "Beer brewed on the premises served with food. The atmosphere is modern and young. To me, that corresponds with what the clientele of Wellington St. is becoming."
Amen, Mayor Trudel!
None of this will happen overnight, of course. The borough is in the process of revising its urban master plan and will consult the citizenry before making any changes. That will be sent to city hall for approval in the new year.It has already been given an enthusiastic thumbs up by the head of the local merchants' association.
Other big changes may be coming to Wellington St. The borough is also looking at turning at least part of the shopping drag into a pedestrian mall or one-way street with an integrated bike path.
I'm not sure how either of those plans will fly locally, but I have to give the mayor props for being willing to think outside the box.
Stay tuned.