If you go visit the Musée Dufresne-Nincheri (Château Dufresne), you will find a museum dedicated to the history of Montreal’s east end. Located in the borough Mercier–Hochelaga-Maisonneuve, it’s easily accessible from the metro station Pie-IX. The museum is located on Sherbrooke Street East, adjacent to the Olympic Stadium, Montreal Botanical Garden.
Walking through, you will encounter 47 historical items and paintings in the “Collectors’ hall, items to remember”. What makes these items and paintings so special is that they previously belonged to such famous historical figures as Jeanne d’Arc, Louis XV, Madame du Barry, Marie-Antoinette, and Napoleon I. Even more special is the fact that these items had never been presented together in a North American museum until they were put on display at Château Dufresne.
Those who enjoy the beauty of stained glass windows, should be sure to visit the Nincheri Studio, the oldest stained glass workshop still in existence in Québec. According to the museum’s website, the stained glass studio and the museum have been combined into a complex where visitors can take advantage of paying one price to visit two unique exhibitions.
The museum’s significance isn’t only in that it houses such unique exhibits, but also in that the building, itself, has historical significance and has been declared a historic monument by the provincial government of Québec since 1976. Built from 1915 to 1918, the structure was originally divided into two residences creating separate households of two brothers, Marius and Oscar Dufresne, who were wealthy French Canadian entrepreneurs. The magnificent building was designed in the Beaux-Arts style by the Parisian architect Jules Renard and one of the brothers, Marius Dufresne.
The chateau has changed hands a couple times as it was sold to the Congregation of the Holy Cross in 1948 and then to the City of Montreal in 1957. Since then, it has housed the Montreal Museum of Contemporary Art , the Montreal Museum of Decorative Arts and today, the Chateau Dufresne and the Nincheri Studio. With the chateau and studio combined, it was renamed Dufresne-Nincheri Museum in 2014.
If you’re heading for a visit and you fall in love with the area, you might want to consider taking a look at these real estate projects.
