Henrietta Antony: Committed to excellence

“The building was designed by the great Westmount architect William Maxwell in 1901 in a neo-classic style,” says its current owner, antiques dealer and long-time Westmounter Henrietta Antony. “Over the years, it has had many uses ... I had a job on my hands, when I came in, to redo it to its own beauty.”

Antony is no stranger to tough jobs. “When I came to Canada in 1949,” she recalls, “I was hired to make custom-made lampshades. At that time, nobody did it up to the standard I would consider proper. I didn’t know either. I learned by eliminating my mistakes. In six months there was nobody better. I raised the bar for lampshade-making ... I started with 50 cents an hour. The next year I had 60 cents. The third year I had 70 cents; I was on easy street.”

Whether building her own business or restoring a building, Antony is committed to excellence. “Right from the start, I knew I had to do things ‘comme il faut,’ otherwise my grandmother would turn over in her grave. We were taught from childhood that things had to be done well ... I brought up three kids all by myself. I would work during the day, then I would go home at 5:30, cook a good square meal for the kids, put them in bed, then return for the next shift.”

Antiques from the ground up

From her work with lampshades, Antony gradually moved into the field of antiques. “I started to repair china, and I gathered a great knowledge about antiques. I started to study the history of art, and style, and so on, and that slowly led me into the antique business. ... We started to go to New York to buy our antiques from wholesale dealers. With antiques, you buy one antique, you sell it and buy two antiques ... Later, when I had gathered enough money to invest, I travelled to Europe. At its height, I was going three times a year to France and to England.”

Antony has seen many changes in Westmount over the years: “In 1959, we bought our first building on Greene Avenue,” she remembers. “Greene didn’t look like it does today; it was all residential houses with little bits of grass in front. I still remember planting begonias in front of our new shop.” Now a Westmount institution, Antony has made some history herself: “I’m a member of the Westmount Rotary Club. I was the first lady admitted to what had been an "Old Boys"club.”

Antony is still far from slowing down. “I’m so busy with my project in the Eastern Townships that I’ll have to live to 120 to finish it,” she says. The Chapelle Ste. Agnés Vineyard, near Sutton on the Vermont border, is a Romanesque chapel filled with specially-chosen antiques. The grounds produce a prize-winning ice wine. “The wine business, that was my dream, coming from southern Moravia, where the finest vineyards were planted in the third century by Roman legionnaires,” says Antony. “By now, wine is part of our DNA, and we are all wine-positive, so that was something I wanted to bring in here ... I’m a multi-phonic person. I go into all kinds of enterprises, but whatever I do, it has to bear my mark of excellence on it.”

What has she learned from her years of work? “Nothing comes by itself. There always has to be hard work and a good positive attitude. What I should really say is that I’m very grateful to this country that gave me the chance to develop my talents.”