Manoir Papineau, Montebello

The ‘Manoir Papineau’ was home to the Papineau family from 1850 to 1929. The house along with outbuildings, landscaped gardens and grounds are now open to the public and managed by Parks Canada who became the custodians in 1993; the site represents one of the most treasured heritage locations in the area surrounding La Petite-Nation and in the greater Ottawa River region. It was designed primarily to commemorate Louis-Joseph Papineau, the man who was to become a leading figure in Canadian politics during the 19th century, as the first French-Canadian nationalist leader. He later became the first seigneur of La Petite-Nation. The sumptuous house was built after Louis-Joseph Papineau returned from political exile in Europe, during the mid-1800s; he lived in the manor from 1846 with his wife and four children until his death. His descendants lived on at the house until the 1920s. Some of the more notable of these included his youngest daughter Azélie, mother to Henri Bourassa the famous journalist and founder of Canadian newspaper Le Devoir. Also, Talbot Mercer Papineau lawyer and decorated soldier, one of four Canadians featured in the book Tapestry of War: A Private View of Canadians in the Great War, by Sandra Gwyn. Major Papineau was portrayed by his fifth cousin, twice removed, then future Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, in the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation's telefilm, The Great War. ()