Architect consultants publish new book on Westmount homes and their owners
Global News
The co-authors published the book to appeal to all ages. The detailed drawings are to be coloured-in while each sketch is accompanied with history of the houses and its occupants.
Sophie Lamarche and Véronique Lapointe are offering a history lesson on the homes of Westmount.
The architectural consultants have co-authored Westmount: Historical colouring book, which features 35 iconic homes in one of Canada’s richest cities. Each home has a description of the architectural style of the house as well as a brief history of some of the original occupants.
The book is designed to be interactive, allowing children to colour the pages of the homes while offering a short history lesson about the physical structures and the first owners.
“We discovered that every single story was so fascinating that we had to share it with the public,” Sophie Lamarche, co-author, told Global News.
The idea came to Lamarche during the pandemic as the former Westmount resident would walk the neighbourhood and appreciate the heritage value of the homes.
She decided with her former university colleague, Véronique Lapointe, that the homes and the people who first lived there should be documented. The two had to access old public records and newspaper archives to find accurate information.
They decided to make the book interactive so all age groups could enjoy the work of art.
“They can read, they can colour, they can talk with the grandparents that maybe have already lived in this neighbourhood,” Lapointe said.