Meet Pierre Berthelet: a fur-trader and merchant, but above all one of the largest landowners in early 19^th-century Montréal. In 1825, he owned 23 buildings in the city, home to some sixty renters. In his largest property, at Pointe-à-Callière, nearly… 90 occupants were crammed in!

Pierre Berthelet (1746–1830) knew how to capitalize on Montréal’s economic boom to build a true real estate empire. One house he had built still stands, and the ruins of one of his warehouses are now on display at the Pointe-à-Callière museum. Behind the businessman was also the father of a large family: 14 children born of two marriages.

Compare the Pierre-Berthelet House of yesterday with the one you see today, newly restored. Built in 1765 and expanded around 1805, this rental property was never occupied by Berthelet himself. Tenants and businesses came and went: mostly innkeepers, but also a brewer—and even a tea inspector! Until the 1860s, it housed both residences and shops. The line marking the original section and the 1805 addition can still be seen on the wall along Saint-François-Xavier Street.

In 2023, archaeological excavations in this building’s basement uncovered several artifacts, including a pipe decorated with Freemasonry symbols: a compass, a square and the letter G, representing the Great Architect of the Universe. This discovery points to the active presence of Masonic lodges in Montréal, which many members of the merchant elite joined in the 19^th century.

These two objects, associated with personal hygiene, were discovered in 2022 during archaeological excavations in the basement of the Maison Berthelet.