The old abandoned family institute
The old abandoned family institute

The old abandoned family institute

The old abandoned family institute

Being the perfect housewives school

Laurentides (Quebec), Canada

We are in 1887, almost four years after the founding of this municipality of the Laurentians region, north of Montreal. Arrivals from the Saint-Laurent city after four days of driving in a barouche, two Marianite nuns from Sainte-Croix have the hard task of creating a school and serving early childhood education. The first few years are hard, and they will have to teach, care for the people, cut and burn their own wood and take care of their little piece of land where they garden what they eat.

Faced to the increase of the population, a first convent was built in 1900, the boys were separated from the girls in 1908 and received their education in the monastery located across the street.

In 1951, after destroying the previous building, which had become obsolete, a family-run institute for domestic education was built, the building now abandoned. This was where the future house-mistresses were trained by focusing their education on sewing, culinary art, weaving, gardening and childcare.

In 1966, the vocation of the building changed and became a nursing home for the nuns until it was abandoned several years ago.

Today, the building seems doomed to be razed. Emptyed of its contents for a while, most of the rooms have seen their walls demolished as if the owner had undertaken renovations that he could not complete. Nevertheless, the structure seems in good condition, despite the infiltration of water here and there. On its main door, an old  and tatty sign "For Sale" testifies to the little interest that the building arouses. Fortunately, even taggers and vandals seem to be held at a distance.

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