Restoration Process | Manoir Chamberland

Restoration of Manoir Chamberland

They say it is never good to fall in love with a house….

That is what happened in 2013 when we first saw the presbytery in Montebello.

It happened to be for sale, and was still for sale when we came back a year later.

We began to imagine the possibilities....

The Montebello Presbytery (rectory) was build in 1938 by Monseigneur Chamberland, who was the priest that oversaw the region around Montebello.

Sadly the church, which the presbytery is attached to, had to sell the presbytery to raise funds to repair the church. The presbytery was in a terrible state of repair, having been rented out for some twenty years. At the time, when it rained, it rained more inside than out!

The restoration work to bring her back to life was significant - roof repairs, stone repairs, collapsed walls and ceilings, and complete upgrading of all electrics going from 60 amps to 400 amps. In terms of plumbing, that also had to be replaced to accommodate 17 toilets up from 3 originally.

Some of the pictures below will show the 5 year journey to repair the old presbytery, and to bring the Manoir Chamberland to life. We hope you enjoy the pictures as much as we had fun on this restoration journey!

Digging our Pool

Here is the beginning of what is now our outdoor swimming pool. We had to hire a construction crew to dig the hole for the pool.

New Sewer Lines

We had to hire a construction crew to dig down around 20 feet into the ground to install our brand new sewer system.

French Pool Pavillion

Our pool and pool pavillion under construction, there was a lot of rain that year!

Our 3rd Floor

When we originally purchased the building, the attic had 12 foot ceilings, with nothing in the room. It has now been refinished as our 3rd floor.

22 Missing Windows

When we bought the house there were 22 missing or cracked windows. This is one down, and 65 more to restore!

French Drainage

In order to reduce the internal leaks, we installed all new french drainage around the perimeter.

Rebuilding Deck & Steps

The front desk and the steps had also collapsed on us, requiring a complete rebuild.

Wall Collapse

This inner supporting wall had also collapsed on us, and needed to be completely rebuilt.

Mortar Restoration

Much of the outside mortar on the stone walls had disintegrated and needed repairs.

2nd Floor Hallway

The 2nd floor hallway had the ceiling collapse a long time ago, causing another area for us to restore.

Original Birch Hardwood

We thought that the original hardwood floor was cherry ... turns out it is birch. These floors had not been touched since they were installed in 1938!

Rained more inside than out...

It rained more inside the house than it did outside when we purchased the presbytery. This is an example of a wall that water ran down during a rainstorm.