The Old Manor House – The Ominous Silence of Ghostly Remains

When American writer Willis N. Bugbee drove through Metis on his tour of the Gaspe, he stopped long enough to explore its relics, notably the abandoned manor house. He described his discovery in his 1939 book Drifting Down The St. Lawrence:

In conformity to ancient customs and to show due respect to the spirits of the seigneurs of old, we made a call at the old Manor House. This dilapidated old mansion stood midway between the highway and the river, in a tangle of shrubbery and neglected trees. So dense was this growth that the building was barely visible to the view of passers-by. We, ourselves, had passed it several times without seeing it. A half-overgrown path led to the doorway. We pushed open the heavy door and went inside. Silence reigned over it all – an ominous silence. Every board in the floor creaked spookishly as we stepped on it. The wind blew dismally through the empty rooms. Part of the ceiling had fallen, and everything was in process of decay…this old mansion…is said to have been a rendez-vous for smugglers, who brought liquor here from St. Pierre by the bootleggers’ express to the States.

For all its historical importance, the manor house appears sparingly in the photographic record. Was the building too decrepit to be recorded by locals or too familiar to be of interest? The manor house was demolished in the 1950s. The outline of its foundations is all that remains.