Cataraqui Domain is a property with a historic garden in Quebec City in the Sillery neighbourhood. Own by the Government of Québec it is operated by the Commission de la Capitale Nationale de Québec.
Cataraqui History
The Cataraqui area was created in 1831 by timber merchant James Bell Forsyth. He acquired the land located on the heights of the cliff Sillery by purchasing the Commission on Property of Jesus, an organization to resell the property of the Jesuits. Forsyth appoints its field in honor of his birthplace, Kingston, formerly the site of Fort Cataraqui, and it erected a small villa. On August 13, 1850, Forsyth resells its field to Henry Burstall, a distant relative.
Also timber merchant, Burstall brick built a villa on the foundations of the wooden villa Forsyth and built the majority of the outbuildings still present on the site. The architect Edward Staveley is responsible for the work of the villa, completed in December 1851. A large winter garden is attached to the west side villa in 1856. Between 1860et 1863, the estate was leased to the Government of Canada for Kingdom house the Governors General Edmund Walker Head and Stanley Monck.
The Levey family owns the Cataraqui area from 1863 to 1905. The banker Charles Levey Eleazar commits the Scottish gardener Peter Lowe to redevelop the gardens according to the principles of the picturesque movement in vogue at that time. Levey is also building two large greenhouses in 1880.
Cataraqui the area passed into the hands of the Rhodes family in 1905. It already owns the neighboring estate, Benmore, Rhodes since 1848. Catherine married the painter Percyval Tudor-Hart in 1935, and makes him develop a vast workshop adjoining the garage . The painter died in 1954 at the age of 81. Catherine Rhodes lives in her memory until her own death in 1972. The Quebec government acquired the area in 1975 and recognized historical monument October 8 of that year.
The field becomes Cataraqui garden-museum in 1995 under the leadership of the Foundation Trifle Sillery. The following year, the area is designated official house of the Quebec government. Great Quebec artists exhibit their works, including Jean-Paul Riopelle, Marcelle Ferron and Marcel Barbeau. In 2002, the site management is entrusted to the National Capital Commission of Quebec.
On 22 February 2008, the National Capital Commission, the Department of Culture, Communications and Status of Women in Quebec, National Bank and the City of Québec announced an investment of $ 9.4 million for the renovation of main building, the construction of a new building and restoration of historic gardens. The places are occupied by the Hotel School of the capital for training in restoration, and can also be used for receptions and other events both public and private. The new domain Cataraqui was inaugurated September 29, 2010.
Source: Wikipedia