Such a home, of moderate size and stone construction, would, no doubt, have been remembered by the early settlers when they decided to build in a more permanent fashion. In the cities, the congestion necessitated another storey, as in the fine old house erected by Gédéon de Catalogne after 1720, on the corner of St. Vincent and St. Thérèse Streets, Montreal. The single storey elevation was, however, still built in the cities, as at the Château de Ramezay, 1703. An old house at St. Denis sur Richelieu (now used as the Post office) is a fine example of the type, with the characteristic moulded corbels to the parapets and bold outlines of gable and double chimneys. The rear elevation, owing to the fall in the ground, is two storeys high with windows symmetrically arranged under the row of the dormer windows which stand on the wall head. The walls are two or more feet thick, of rough stone almost smothered in mortar, and the roof is covered with the well-known « fer-blanc » which was introduced here as a precaution against fire as early as 1678. As is usual in this type, the door is in the centre of the elevation ; with the double casement windows of small panes, disposed symmetrically on either side. Generally, there are doubled slatted shutters which open back against the walls and are held by “S”-shaped wrought-iron catches, while on the gable ends are to be seen wrought-iron anchor bars holding fast the principal roof and floor beams. Sometimes the chimneys are finished with moulded copings of rather a Gothic character and the parapets are boarded and tinned or shingled on the top. This high parapet probably came into use in the town where the buildings adjoined, and acted as a fire protection. The main floor is raised three to four feet from the ground and is reached by steps and gallery. The entrance door opens direct into one of the two rooms which usually make up the ground plan, one serving as a living-room and kitchen, the other as a parlour, and from the corner of one of them the stairs rise irregularly to the big attic. The larger houses are often very broad, the Château de Ramezay is over 51 feet from front to back and is planned two rooms deep with a central wall ; from this would originate the typical double chimney on the gable ends.
Variations from the general types are few ; the plans, and consequently the roof treatments, are of the simplest outlines, influenced no doubt by practical considerations of ice and snow. Picturesque gables and broken roofs are unsuitable to Eastern Canada. A form which one wonders was not more often used is the mansard type of roof, of which there still remain a few good examples. Instead of the usual flat treatment of the eaves, a quadrant curve is sometimes used suggesting the coved cornice of Georgian design. At L’Assomption there is a Summer House with a curved roof, flanked by balustraded terraces, making a composition of rare beauty.
The building traditions which have given to French Canada so much of its old-world charm were practically dead by the middle of the last century, but happily there are many signs that the old architecture is now being studied and appreciated at its true value. These old houses were the answer to conditions of contemporary life, and it is the manner of this response which should inspire our architects rather than
