Description of Historic Place
The Maillou House is a two-storey, freestanding, stone building, coiffed with a steeply pitched copper roof, which is punctuated by dormers and three large chimney shafts. The building is comprised of two distinct volumes. The main house is the result of several successive construction phases, starting with a one-storey house, to which an additional storey was added, followed by an expansion of the ground floor, which was also raised to include a second storey. A perpendicular three-storey addition was later added at the back. The property also includes a side courtyard and outbuildings. It is located in the center of Québec City’s Historic District, near the Château Frontenac. The designation is confined to the footprint of the main building.
Heritage Value
The Maillou House is a Classified Federal Heritage Building because of its historical associations, and its architectural and environmental values.
Historical value:
The Maillou House is a very good example of a rich landowner’s residence under the French regime, when Québec City increasingly became a city of tenants. Later used as a commissariat house by the British military, it also illustrates the administrative and military roles of the city in the 19th Century. Through the course of its history, several people of regional importance inhabited the building, for example, Jean-Baptiste Maillou; Antoine Juchereau Duchesnay; John Hale. Through its progressive growth, the house is also a very good example of the city’s evolution.
Architectural value:
The Maillou House is a very good example of French, “Canadianized” and classicaly-inspired urban residential architecture of the 18th Century. The building is of harmonious and balanced composition, which testifies to the strong building traditions handed down from the French Regime and to the care taken at all of its phases of construction.
Environmental value:
The Maillou House reinforces the urban character of its setting, Saint-Louis Street, and, along with the neighbouring Kent House and Jacquet House, gives an idea of the street’s appearance in the early 19th Century. Its neighbouring courtyard and outbuildings, also contribute to illustrate
this period. Located on one of the best-known streets in the historic city, the Maillou House is a significant landmark and part of the district classified by UNESCO as a world heritage city.
Sources:
Yvon Desloges et Yvan Fortier, Maison Maillou et café L’Estoc – 17 rue Saint-Louis, Vieux-Québec, Québec. Rapport du Bureau d’examen des édifices fédéraux du patrimoine, 90-33;Maillou House, Québec City, Québec. Heritage Character Statement, 90-33.
Character-Defining Elements
The character-defining elements of the Maillou House should be respected.
Its aesthetic and functional design, typical of classically inspired French, “Canadianized” 18th Century residential architecture, and its very good quality materials and craftsmanship, as manifested in:
-its massing and proportions, including the steeply pitched roof, dormer windows, and large chimney shafts offset from the roofline of the main house, and the addition at the back with its shed roof;
-the balanced composition of the front elevation, with its regular bays and window openings disposed symmetrically on either side of the main entrance;
-its exterior masonry walls, the dressed stone of the door and widow frames and string course between the two storeys, and the clapboard cladding of the northeast gable;
-the unusual elements added in the 19th Century, such as the “venetian window” on the rear elevation, and the exterior metal shutters; and,
-the interior layout, details and finishes, which are a result of changes in ownership and function, and which include contributions from each period, harmoniously assembled, such as the two magnificently worked stone fireplace, several old partitions, the woodwork of the doors, windows, frames and shutters, the 1822 vault, and the central staircase.
The manner in which the house reinforces the early 19th Century urban character of Saint-Louis Street, and serves as a significant landmark in the historic district of Québec, as demonstrated in:
-the similarity of the house’s massing, alignment and materials with those of neighboring buildings along the street;
-its massing, design and materials, side court and out buildings, which together contribute to the Old Town’s character;
-its location in the center of the historic district, which reinforces its landmark quality.
