Portrait of Louis Riel and photography of Sir François X. Lemieux
When François-Xavier Lemieux, Deputy Minister of Lands and Forests for Quebec purchased the property in 1939, he had it renovated by his neighbor, a carpenter by the name of Alphonse Bérubé. The Lemieux family had often stayed in another house in the village during François-Xavier's youth. As a young man, he occasionally rode his bicycle from Quebec City to visit his family during the summer holidays. His father, Sir François X. Lemieux (photo above), had been one of the attorneys for Louis Riel in 1885, and had served as Chief Justice of the Superior Court of Quebec from 1911 to 1932. During the 20 years that it remained in the Lemieux family, many important political figures visited this villa known as La Sapinière.
Photo source :
Photo : Portrait of Louis Riel, painted in 1886 (after his death), retrieved from University of Manitoba Archives, reference # PC 107