I Wanna live there # 23

I live in a pretty incredible area - It's an historical neighbourhood loaded with tons and tons and tons of charm - and 20th century architecture, just steps away from the city center, it's also a pretty expensive neighbourhood ( in which I live in servants quarters basically compared to what I'm surrounded by ) 
Because there's days I don't have furniture makeovers to show you - I've chosen Wednesdays to showcase and feature one home that's for sale around here.................( or apartment - or duplex - or teepee )
Keep in mind this is in the heart of the city - so the prices reflect that  - think Manhattan - where these places would cost 3 or 4 times what they're listed for here!
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Good Morning everyone!
1st one up on the list this morning is listed at 1,295,000
4 bedroom
4 bath
Built in 1912
Realtor Marie-Yvonne Paint

Again you can't judge a book by it's cover!  They don't look very large from a " street " view but most of these houses are very long.......................
Come on - let's get inside this one ( walk in a line behind me please - we have to be orderly about this and not all try to get in at the same time like a bunch of neurotic bloggers - NO pushing and shoving )

Are we all painting out the wood?  Crisp white?  I spy ( with my little eye ) a radiator peaking out on the bottom right hand corner - love love love these ( do I really HAVE to say that every single time? )

Hello Kitty! - sorry you're going to have to move soon sweetie................... I really really like this kitchen.

pretty handles - bling type of thing - 

I'm not the biggest fan of modern - but that butane fire place works in this room - beautifully - I could easily be converted I think!
Hey kitty - are you following us around?

one more?

3,435,530 dollars
Realtor Ingrid Mellina
LIVE ON TOP OF THE MOUNTAIN! BE ON TOP OF THE WORLD! The Surrey Gardens in Westmount is one of the most prestigious and sought after addresses in Montreal.This desirable property is situated at the end of a Cul de Sac where the majestic cupola of the St.Joseph's Oratory rises to meet your eyes and leaves you breathless. 

To live in the presence of a historic building of such splendor and significance will be a privilege to any future resident.The tranquility and beauty of this magnificent neighborhood add to the value of this exceptional property.
Jean Houde who has realized the dream homes for hundreds of satisfied customers has built a 5 BR residence of the highest building standards. This master craftsman has more than 20 Years experience and 6 Domus awards to his credit.
The house has a living space of 6.690 sq.ft. on 4 levels including a finished basement and A large 2-car garage.

This is as large as I can make these next photos without losing resolution - sorry about that - 
because these photos deserve to be much larger!

Ok - here we can all scramble in together because it's empty - we can all go nuts 

some of us can go upstairs - some of us can go downstairs - some of us can just dance around this foyer for a little while ( I may go upstairs and slide down the bannister actually ) 

wait a minute - that may be a little difficult

but wow - what a gorgeous stairwell!

dining room

the fireplace is open - so it's in the master bath as well

do you think I'm joking when I tell you this master bath is double ( if not more ) the size of my bedroom?

what a gorgeous upper landing - love love love those window wells - looks like there's 3 of them - plus a skylight!

and the piece de resistance is you're facing this

Which is Canada's largest church -  St. Joseph's Oratory ( Roman Catholic minor basilica ) 
You can click on the link for a little history

Here's a couple of photos - I really must do a post on Montreal's Churches one day - because there
are more here than anywhere else in North America ( Canada and the States combined ) and most
of them are turn of the century buildings - the architecture on some of them is out of this world!


This photo of St. Joseph's Oratory of Mount Royal is courtesy of TripAdvisor

In 1904, Saint André Bessette, C.S.C., began the construction of St. Joseph, a small chapel on the slopes of Mont Royal near Notre Dame College.^[2] Soon the growing number of the congregation made it too small. In 1917 a larger church was completed that had a seating capacity of 1,000. In 1924, the construction of the basilica of Saint Joseph's Oratory was commenced; it was finally completed in 1967.^[2]

Father Paul Bellot, an architect, completed the dome of Saint Joseph's Oratory between 1937-39. The dome is the third-largest of its kind in the world after theBasilica of Our Lady of Peace of Yamoussoukro in Côte d'Ivoire and Saint Peter's Basilica in Rome.^[3]

Samples from the stations of the cross

This photo of St. Joseph's Oratory of Mount Royal is courtesy of TripAdvisor

On October 19, 2004, the Oratory held its centennial. All the bells of all the churches on the island of Montreal were supposed to ring at 9:00 a.m., though not all churches participated. At 9:05 a.m., the basilica rang its bell in response and celebration.



This photo of St. Joseph's Oratory of Mount Royal is courtesy of TripAdvisor

You can pretty well see it from anywhere since it rests on the upper most part of the city ( Montreal stems from Mont Royal - which translates into Royal Mountain - just a bit of trivia for y'all lol )

This photo of St. Joseph's Oratory of Mount Royal is courtesy of TripAdvisor

It's quite a large tourist attraction actually - and is especially beautiful at night

source

That's all for today folks - a little real estate - a little architecture and a little history to boot!
Have a wonderful Wednesday!

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Meet Buddy's Daughter.................

I suffered as a child - oh how I suffered!
How I longed for a normal last name like my Mother's family had - Egan - or Sheard.
Suzy Brady would have sounded so cute don't you think? So North American.
These were my friends last names
Mullin
Phillips
Martin
Thompson
Hallinan
Russell
Astles ( pronounced like Castles - except everyone made it sound like asshole so she hated her name too now that I think of it )

and then there was me
Suzan Sweatman................

I can remember being mortified when the teacher called out my name - absolutely mortified - and could feel
my cheeks going on fire as I mentally willed myself out of the classroom ( do you remember the days when you actually blushed, that slow creeping up of heat that instantly betrayed your outward look of not caring ? )
I would be thrilled when someone mispronounced it and called me Suzan Sweetman - sweet is so much sweeter than Sweat after all.
Who wants to be labelled with a nasty bodily function?
I might as well have been called Suzan Pissman - or worse Suzy Shitman - really, it was just as bad to me.

Once we were all in the auditorium - in grade school - and as a treat we were going to watch a movie -
for some reason I remember it as  Herbie - the Love Bug - but it may have been another - and as we sat
all enthralled with the movie - to my complete horror - one of the lines in the movie was ( after someone thanked someone for something ) Hey, it's no SWEAT, MAN!
The rest of the movie was a fuzzy hazy blur as I sat and fretted, bit my nails down to the quick and worried my way through it -
Was this a new expression?  I had never heard it before - was this something people were going to start saying daily?  How could I live with that?

I went home that afternoon and declared to my Mom - that from that day forward my name would be Suzy
Egan.
You can't just change your name like that, she smiled
Everyone already knows your name, she reasoned
How would you explain it to your friends, she asked
I'll change schools - I blurted out
Could we move? - I tearfully asked
One day - she assured me - you will be proud of your name
Never - I cried - I will never be proud of this name - I mournfully replied................as I flung myself across my bed ( I was such an actress - still am btw )

And then in the 70's there was a break out hit show called Welcome Back Kotter - where John Travolta got his start - and he was in a special needs class - where the students were called, horror of horrors,
SWEAT HOGS
Well that was just a hop, skip and a jump away from Sweatman, really - and became a nick name for awhile.
Some girls get Dee Dee - Candy - Mitzi - Gigi - no girls that I know of have ever had Sweathog thrown at them, other than me, that is.  To be fair none of my girlfriends called me that but once in awhile one of the guys from the gang would throw out a " hey Sweathog, what's happening? "  I think that's when I first learned
how to cut my eyes like a pro.
One of my grandmothers used to say with pride " she can cut her eyes like an Egan " ( Irish heritage - you have to have Irish Heritage to get that one )

Family members called me Suzy-q - one Aunt called me Suzan Van Heusen - some class mates called me
Suzanne - all my friends called me Suzan ( pronounced Susan by the way )  but to the outside world I was
Suzan SWEATMAN.

Different is horrible when you're young.

As I matured - my name took on a completely different meaning - I'm not sure when exactly it happened but I can definitely remember associating it with the wonderful man who gave it to me - who passed away far too young -  but I was given his name and what a terrible thing it would be, to be embarrassed by something as wonderful as being Buddy Sweatman's daughter.  I have a lot of him in me I'm told - I love people - I love helping - I love to laugh - I love to entertain - and I love words, all of these were his gifts to me, along with his name.
In fact - I can only feel a very deep - to the bottom of my soul - to the corners of my heart -  pride in my name now. You were right Mom. It's become my badge of honor.

And today I can laugh about it - when John and I were still in the dating stage we went to Paris together.
His name is John Wood - ( I know, I know, as normal a name as you can get - I think that may have been what attracted me to him most lol )  and all the French Mills would jokingly call him Jean Du Bois ( the literal translation ) which sounds so nice right? I kept introducing myself as
Suzanne L'homme de Perspiration ( the literal translation ) and everyone roared!  I have a sense of humour, if nothing else, perhaps it all started many many years ago.
With a name.

Do I have any followers from South Carolina btw?  I hear their ribs are pretty good!
LOL

My name is Suzan Sweatman -  and I approve this post.
( and since I'm smack in the middle of menopause - the name is oddly fitting now )

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