Villa Maria

Villa Maria is a private catholic girl's high school in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. It was founded in 1854 and offers both a francophone and an anglophone stream. The central part of the Villa Maria school used to be called the Monklands mansion, and it was the home of the Governor General of Canada from 1844 to 1849.

Although some people believe the name is Latin for Ville Marie, which was Montreal's original name when first settled, it actually translates to "House of Mary".

In 1795, James Monk, Chief Justice of Lower Canada, purchased an estate in Montreal that had previously belonged to the Décarie family. The first Monk residence, built in 1803, was the central section of the present-day Villa Maria.

Sir James Monk willed the property known as ‘Monklands’ to his niece, Elizabeth Ann Monk. In 1844, the family leased Monklands to the Crown as a residence for the Governors General of Canada. Modifications were made to create a more imposing residence.

Three Governors General, Sir Charles Metcalfe, Lord Cathcart and Lord Elgin, resided at Monklands. In 1849, Lady Elgin gave birth to a son, Victor Bruce, the future Viceroy of India, in a second floor room overlooking the driveway. Monklands was later turned into a country hotel for five years.

The third phase of the building’s history began in 1854 when the Congrégation de Notre-Dame purchased the estate to open a boarding school. They called it Villa Maria.

Monklands is one of the oldest remaining Palladian-style villas in Canada. Because of its excellent state of conservation and the historic importance of its various occupants, it was declared an historic monument in 1951.

External links

* [http://www.villamaria.qc.ca/ Villa Maria's home page]