See how a millennial transformed a dull 1960s bungalow into a lavish Georgian mansion dripping in one-of-a-kind antiques that hosts boudoir photo shoots for $200 an hour
Zoe Rosenberg
- Emmanuel Hébert grew up in a tiny Montreal bungalow that he has transformed into a Georgian mansion.
- The home showcases extravagant antiques that he sells online and costly finishes he commissioned.
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.
The original house was built in 1963 and had a basement where Hébert taught himself to restore antiques.
After starting his business in 2017, he decided to expand the house into a living showroom. The original structure was incorporated into the back of the new house.
Hébert purchased the original house from his mom in 2009 for $184,000 using money he'd earned from restoring paint on classic cars. He financed the renovation with a $404,000 loan.
Hébert commissioned costly, bespoke finishes. One of the larger expenses was the copper chimney cap, gutters, and soffits that cost around $140,000.
He also designed a massive fireplace mantle for the living room made of two blocks of black marble with white veining from the Basque Country in Spain. Romeo approves.
Hébert chose a high-contrast white and black tile for the floor that would pop against the home's many antiques.
In the new dining room, he added a 17-foot sacristy cabinet he salvaged from a church that was going to be torn down.
Hébert specializes in lighting, and considers it the jewelry of the home. The two fixtures flanking his front door are from the Fairmont Royal York in downtown Toronto.
Hébert centers his rooms' designs around one standout object. For the living room, that was a stuffed peacock.
The finished room is eye-catching and has served as a backdrop for many photo shoots.
Some sessions are glamorous and others include public figures, like the former professional mixed martial artist George St-Pierre.
Although it looks finished from the outside, the home is still a work in progress. Hébert has plans for a symmetrical French-style garden with a pool and a two-story, three-car garage.
He recently finished an all-red bedroom that one of his 5,400 Facebook followers called "sexy" but a few others compared to the set of "The Shining."
There's still a ton of work to do, but Hébert's happy with the progress on the home and in the business.
"I was always on a 'find a way to make bread' mission and it was always about money back in the days," he said. "But now it's about what makes me feel thrilled."
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