Beautiful Old Mansions in Downtown Montreal

On a recent trip to Montreal, Terry and I strolled down Rene Levesque Boulevard - known as Dorchester Street when we lived there. It was then, as now, a busy street that feeds onto the Ville Marie expressway.














An older street, it is undergoing transition. Which is perhaps why I noticed a few old mansions that remain from older days.














The Van Horne-Shaughnessy House (which now houses the Canadian Centre for Architecture) is an impressive structure with interesting third floor windows.















It was vacant and run-down when we lived a few streets away. I'm glad it has been restored.














It has been designated a historic site.














I don't know if the two old buildings across the street are also protected from demolition.














The land around them has been cleared. I wonder if the plan is to make way for new high-rise development.














As I admired these beautiful old mansions in the heart of downtown Montreal, I tried to imagine how this boulevard might have looked a hundred or more years ago with other elegant homes on this ridge now overlooking the expressway. Was the St. Lawrence River once visible through their upper floor windows?














Were there a lot of homes like these? (Or were there simply fields and gardens in between?)

This Wikipedia article casts a little light on the subject. They were apparently part of what was once called the "Golden Mile."

Another old house - several blocks away, but also in the "Golden Mile" - was the subject of a Montreal artist's blog recently... I'm glad others are appreciating the beauty of these lovely old buildings, too. They are a historic treasure in the midst of a modern city. Too bad we often drive by them so quickly we don't even see them!