Emmanuel Hébert grew up in a 2,200-square-foot ho-hum midcentury bungalow on the outskirts of Montreal, Canada.
Today, he's raising his 5-year-old son Romeo in the same house — but it's now three times the size, has a 7-foot-tall stuffed peacock in the living room, and provides a lavish backdrop for his growing collection of chandeliers of all shapes and styles.
Hébert is an online antiques dealer who decided to forgo a traditional storefront and transform his home into a staging ground for his business.
He also rents the mansion, which he calls Manoir Blackswan, for $184 an hour for a two-hour minimum to photographers and videographers looking to take advantage of its saturated, moody interiors. He said he's had a handful of rap music videos filmed there, as well as many boudoir-style photo shoots. He's also building out a catalog of props for rent from his many antique wares.
The tattooed 34-year-old guided much of the renovation himself and designed some of the home's more opulent finishes, like the imposing 8-foot by 5-foot black marble fireplace mantle that features a lattice and filigree-like pattern flanked by two imposing lions. It took four carvers three months to complete the piece in Spain, he said.
See how the home went from its drab beginnings to being a showpiece mansion with a one-of-a-kind style.