445, rue Paul East
Built in 1757, therefore under the French regime, the Dumas House is among the oldest witnesses of Montreal history and the only example of a small-scale house within the ancient city fortifications. Even if it is now known as Toussaint Dumas’s house, he was not the first owner.
Eustace Prévost was a cooper and acquired the land in 1750. He had this one story house built including the ground floor. The basement was a workshop for the manufacture of barrels and casks. He lived there until in 1777. The Prévost family kept the House until 1823. The son, Charles, added a floor in 1798.
A merchant, Toussaint Dumas lived in the premises in 1823. His son Norbert, lawyer, bought the House in 1839. It was used as a source of profit, two apartments being leased. The building remained in the family property until the 1950s. It housed an innkeeper, then a shoemaker, Thomas McCormick and Joseph Ayotte. The House is divided into four units since 1880. Renovations were held around 1885 and others in 1970. Today the building houses two condominiums and is part of a protected environment.
