Building a House in New France: An Account of the Perplexities of Client and Craftsman in Early Canada

Building a House in New France is an unconventional account of life in early French Canada. It describes the social background of popular architecture and shows how the evolution of the Canadians was mirrored in the houses they built. The story covers New France from Newfoundland to the Great Lakes. Using new historical sources, the author weaves colourful anecdotes into a scholarly analysis of the contractual arrangements and building techniques used in Canada before 1760. In this book the reader will discover the jug of wine that sealed contracts, administrators whose town plans foundered on the independence of the colonists, a surgeon who ruined himself in an attempt to keep up with his brother, the Montreal nuns who feared peeping toms, the missing workers who were found in taverns, and the patient craftsmen who endured the scrutiny of amateur experts. In this account is the story of an ingenious building technique developed in the St. Lawrence valley that spread across Canada to become the first national style of construction. This is a human and lively chronicle based on pioneer research.