Historical Association reveals Riverview

Ellen Rubin emotionally portrayed Justine-Solomée, the eldest daughter of Pierre-Jeremie Hurtubise, who married Ephrem Hudon, a very successful Ville-Marie merchant in 1836.

Ephrem Hudon, we learned, was the man who built the original one-and-a-half storey red brick house in 1847. Hudon was solidly played by André Gagné. As they took us through the 40 years the Hudon family lived in Justine-Solomée’s house, slides of Montreal history events were projected behind them.

The next owner, William Simpson, who purchased the house in 1876, moved in with his wife Caroline Mackenzie and their four children. Simpson, who was born in Montreal to Scottish parents, was played by Malcolm McRae. His wife, Caroline was played by Ann Elbourne. Both vividly brought to life the next few years with an emphasis on the renovations made by Simpson in 1879, when he had the half storey raised to create a full second floor, added a third floor for storage, and updated the basement. The wonderful decorative central turret was also added by Simpson to make the house more fashionable. Of particular interest to the audience made up of Westmounters was the projected floor plan of the house showing a stream still running through the basement.

Ann Elbourne and Ellen Rubin, co-ordinators of Dramatis Personae, collaborated with Doreen Lindsay in writing the text. They identified the characters and brought them to life as individuals. Amy Shulman played the lovable long-time resident Anne Elliot. Complementary slide images describing the development of Montreal continued to accompany the actors as they took on the personalities of the owners in the following years: Mr. M. Languirand from 1972 to 1985 then Pauline and Philip Ronchetti from 1985 to 1988.

The Dramatis Personae group was invited by Westmount Historical Association president Doreen Lindsay to dramatise the history of Riverview based on an illustrated album researched by Pauline and Philip Ronchetti after they completed an exemplary preservation of the house and gardens in 1987. Riverview has a 1A classification in Westmount and received a Montreal Heritage Emeritus Award in 2005.



- Doreen Lindsay is president of the Westmount Historical Association.