Maison Tetu (Tetu House), Quebec City

Being outside Tetu House, pause first across the street so you can take in the full width of the façade. This is one of Quebec City’s refined 19th-century merchant houses, designed in 1852 by Charles Baillairgé, a member of the influential Baillairgé family of architects, whose work helped shape the city’s architectural character.

Look straight at the front of the house: the clean, balanced lines, the strong cornice, and the orderly arrangement of windows reveal its Greek Revival style. To identify the decorative details, let your eye move upward and around the façade. Notice the elegant palmette motifs and the subtle laurel wreaths, both classical ornaments that give the building a dignified but not overly showy appearance.

Now look at the main floor. The large bay windows are especially important: they were designed to bring light into a single spacious reception room, arranged in the fashionable London style. In a way, this tells you that the house was not only a residence, but also a statement of wealth, taste, and modern comfort.

Tetu House was quite advanced for its time, with central heating, hot running water, and several bathrooms—all considered luxuries in mid-19th-century Quebec. The place also has a literary connection: in the early 1940s, Antoine de Saint-Exupéry, author of The Little Prince, stayed here as a guest of the De Koninck family, adding a quietly romantic note to this elegant urban mansion.