A Manitoba landmark built a century ago is in the process of being renovated into a unique bed and breakfast with a hallowed past.
The former Grey Nuns convent located on a beautiful oxbow of the Assiniboine River will be open for business by May, if the current rate of restoration can be maintained.
Constructed on the ashes of an earlier convent that burned to the ground in 1915, the present building was reconstructed in 1916, serving as an educational and spiritual facility for the Métis community of St. François Xavier, about 20 kilometres west of Winnipeg.
The Grey Nuns vacated the nunnery in 1950 to return to St. Boniface in Winnipeg where their order had its main convent.
Marg Kentner, known for her former Touch of Class boutique on Academy Road in Winnipeg, as well as her Medicine Rock Café and Tin Lizzie Auto Museum in St. François, is the B&B's project manager and main interior designer.
Said Kentner, "The nunnery remained dormant until 1968 when it was purchased by a lovely French lady, Juliette Regnier, who operated it as the White Horse Chalet boarding house for about 20 years until she retired."
When Regnier's children decided to sell the chalet in 1992, Kentner realized her dream to buy the convent-- her Medicine Rock Café had just been sold and she had always admired the lovely, haunted building.
She opened Thee Olde Nunnery restaurant and Nun's Kitchen bakery shop in 1994 in the convent.
Several years later, it was taken over by a young woman who had a vision of turning it into a trendy bar and restaurant with a black and purple interior -- a timely idea that didn't work out.
In 2001, the venerable convent was bought by Rob Rose, a St. François antique furniture and auto collector who saw the property as a good investment.
The building stood empty until last August when Rose approached Kentner with his vision of turning it into a classy B&B.
"I agreed to the project because I felt I had one more entrepreneurial effort left in me," said Kentner. "And it's every woman's dream to renovate a convent, in this case twice."
Working in conjunction with Allan Danley, a certified technologist (ARCH) with EDS Drafting Services Ltd. in Winnipeg, Kentner had the nunnery designated a heritage site.
"The designation is pretty much required to undertake renovations to a building of its age," said Kentner, adding the former nunnery is 7,000 square feet and has 46 windows.
Each of the nine suites and rooms features natural light and a beautiful view of either the Assiniboine River oxbow, the nearby St. François Xavier Roman Catholic Church or many towering maple trees that grow on the landscaped property.
Kentner said the wall and ceiling colour palette will consist of yellows, whites, light blues and, in some cases, wallpaper trim to highlight areas above door and window lintels.
For example, the former dining room will be transformed into a gorgeous suite with a four-foot-high pine wainscot, deep yellow-painted wall panels between the numerous windows and figured-gold wallpaper above the window heads.
The rooms and suites all have names, including the Grand Haven, a top luxury suite of 1,100 square feet with a vintage sign rescued from a cottage at Grand Beach; the Room with a View, which overlooks the oxbow and churchyard; and The Wild Rose Room, which has two rooms under the eaves. There are also The Lilac Room, the Superior rooms, as well as Southern Comfort, Susy Q's and Brebeufs Place on the lower level.
Reproduction pierced metal sconce and hanging lampshades are reminiscent of the original building; solid maple T&G floors more than 100 years old are being refinished throughout the B&B.
The top floor has two rooms with slanted ceilings, collar beams and refurbished windows by Yarrow Sash and Door.
Beds will feature pure silk duvets manufactured in China and provided by Leona Johnson Enterprises of Gimli.Brightly coloured umbrellas handmade in Myanmar, also from Johnson Enterprises, will be available to guests who feel like a stroll along the river's oxbow or a walk through the lovely old town itself, said Kentner.
Furniture is still being decided, but some of the pieces will be selected from an extensive collection of antiques owned by Rose.
"I've got some really gorgeous pieces in storage," said Rose, whose family settled in St. François Xavier after it was built by Cuthbert Grant, a Métis leader whose family moved to Manitoba from the same area of northern Scotland as the Rose family.
"To my knowledge, the Grant and the Rose families lived within a few miles of each other in Scotland," said Kentner. "It's ironic that so many years later Ron is restoring one of the most historic buildings in a town founded by the son of a European neighbour."
Of further interest, Rose said a movie about Cuthbert Grant will be shot in St. François beginning in the late spring.
Rose is also a collector of rare vehicles, many of which he will be selling this spring to allow him to renovate the Tin Lizzie Auto Museum, located just behind the B&B.
A well, Rose said he will be moving the Medicine Rock Café, located about three kilometres south of the Auberge Juliette on Highway 26, onto a site close to the old convent.
"When we open the B&B, we will offer a continental breakfast in a room where guests can prepare their own food that will be supplied between about 8 a.m. and 11 a.m. each morning," he said.
"However, in the future it would be nice to have a restaurant nearby where guests can purchase a full meal during the day and evening," said Rose.
His interest in opening Auberge Juliette goes back to 2001 when he purchased the nunnery and adjoining property.
"I told Marg at that time that we should put our heads together and develop a first-class B&B that would attract people from throughout the world," he said.
However, their schedules didn't correspond until the summer of 2013, a dozen years after the original proposal.
"The most difficult part was getting all the permits together and working through the red tape to turn a heritage building into a hostel," said Rose, adding once the bureaucratic nightmare was overcome, the renovation moved along quickly.
He said the maple floors are currently being refinished, much of the painting is completed and once the steam-heating system and air conditioning are reconnected, the final undertaking will be to select appropriate furnishings.
The suites will have their own fully equipped bathrooms and all the amenities of upscale hotels.
A reception room and possibly a small gift shop will be located at the entrance, and a quiet reading room will be available to guests who want to enjoy the spirituality of the old convent.
"Many people have had encounters with ghosts described as glowing auras that radiated good feelings," said Kentner.
She said rates will be from $79 to $199 per night, depending on the size of the room or suite requested.
Pets or smoking are not allowed inside.
For more information, Google http://innontheoxbow.ca/
