The Vision

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See background and information outlined in our brochure.

The Maison Fairbairn House will be:

a bilingual community resource where families, tourists, children, students and seniors can participate in celebrating the heritage of the region.
a place where we can share our stories with others in our community, and with visitors from other regions, and where these stories and the objects and documents related to them are preserved.
a regional heritage centre that will consolidate and facilitate the preservation, access and management of the heritage resources necessary to promote and make known the human and natural history of the Gatineau Valley.
a location offering multi-purpose space that will appeal to a broad range of partners, sponsors, and entrepreneurs with a program including activities, merchandising, cross-promotion, seminars, outdoor markets and demonstrations.
a centre with a business approach that forms relationships with other businesses in the Gatineau Valley in order to generate revenue and to market and promote the region as a destination.

The centre will focus on cultural tourism, childrens' activities and preserving our heritage. Target audiences include tourists, recent retirees, young families with children, and all residents of the Outaouais region.

The building will house both permanent and temporary exhibits and will encourage exhibit-sharing with museums in the province. It will also function as a centre for historical research for the region. The seven acres of parkland that surrounds the building will offer excellent opportunities for many different types of activities and programs, including special events, children's and school activities, and heritage demonstrations. The Centre will have two multi-purpose rooms to accommodate 25 people each for seminars, classes, presentations and meetings. There will be an on-site gift shop and on-line boutique where historic, local and organic products will be sold.

Community involvement is essential for the success of these activities. We will ask individuals and businesses to take part in activities such as exhibit brainstorming, volunteering as guides and participating in special events, exhibits and programs. Our grounds are a great venue for weddings, concerts, benefits, fairs or markets. If you have an idea for an event or would like to participate, let us know through contact us.

Exhibits

Displays will be a mix of permanent (5-10 years) and temporary (1-2 years) exhibits. Programming will occur daily (during museum hours) and will offer visitors something different on subsequent visits to the Centre. During the off-season (November to May), the basement facilities will be open for special programs while the Centre itself will only be open by appointment.

Exhibit profile:

Main Floor:

Two permanent exhibits: one will tell the story of the history of the Gatineau Valley from its origins to the present; the other will focus on a specific theme. Each will integrate visual elements (historic photographs, artifacts, videos) plus tactile elements (a trunk of items for children to handle or clothes to try on, for example).
A Kitchen period room display that depicts a 19th century kitchen, including a demonstration area.
Thematic exhibits on such topics as community social life and the Fairbairn family.

Upstairs: Temporary exhibit space for a school gallery (created by local schools), community gallery (featuring crafts or exhibits by community members), borrowed travelling exhibits, or other short-term exhibits.
Potential exhibit topics include: The Fairbairn family, La Pêche regional history, local aboriginal history, the fur trade, agriculture, forestry, pioneer settlement, transportation, human geography and architectural archaeology.

We are also thinking about exhibit space for artists. Please contact us if this is something that interests you.

Centre for Historical Research

The portion of the building on the second floor above the summer kitchen will become a centre for historical research, with written, electronic and on-line facilities. Files, photographs and other archival material will be available to historians, geneologists, students and others generally interested in the heritage of the Gatineau Valley.

Programs

There will be daily programs to offer visitors a variety of presentations when they visit the heritage site. During the winter the basement rooms will be open for special programs. Activities will take place in the heritage centre and on the surrounding grounds.

Activities will be led by bilingual guides and volunteers from the community.

Examples of activities include:

Guided group and individual tours and walks around the heritage centre and its grounds, as well as for special programs dealing with the history of the Gatineau Hills.
Daily demonstrations: seasonal activities, such as craft demonstrations (wool felting), food demonstrations (herb drying) and garden demonstrations (heritage vegetable gardening).
Adult workshops: heritage building research; restoring old photographs; genealogy; objects from our history; wildlife of the Outaouais; history in the kitchen; Victorian yuletide; 19th-Century games; quilting and many more.
Activities with schools: school exhibits in upstairs temporary space; creating exhibits to offer interactive educational programs with activities geared towards tourists, young retirees and children.
Birthday parties for children: two-hour programs featuring a walk, a heritage craft, ice-cream making and space for parents to serve cake.

Special Events:

The Maison Fairbairn House site will host a number of public events and activities. The committee is looking for input on what types of activities you would like to see at the site. We have included some of our own ideas and plans as well:

Four times per year we plan to hold a one-day special event. There will also be themed events such as an Organic Farming Festival, a Sheep and Wool Festival, a Heritage Craft Festival, a Logger's Day or River Festival. Each event will feature guests who will bring their wares or tools to show and demonstrate.
Each year we will hold specific fundraising events, such as a Box Lunch Auction, Victorian Tea, or Music in the Park.

Boutique

The Maison Fairbairn House Boutique and Gift Shop will be located in the period summer kitchen in the rear of the Centre. The heritage centre will promote the sale of local organic and heritage-oriented products in its boutique.

If you have an idea for an organic product or heritage-related item that would fit within our vision please contact us.

Parkland

The Maison Fairbairn House is surrounded by seven acres of parkland, generously donated to the Municipality by the Vincent Hendrick family, which offers a great opportunity for outdoor activities. Future facilities in the parkland will include a gazebo, a picnic area and a kitchen garden. And there will be spaces for outdoor exhibitions, period games, parking and toilets. The Centre is also a trailhead station for the Trans-Canada Trail.

Behind the heritage centre an organic 19th century kitchen garden will be planted and used for programs to enhance visitor experience. Children will be encouraged to tend the kitchen garden and participate in all aspects of planting, cultivating and harvesting. The grounds and gardens will be managed as an integrated site.

If you have any ideas for our gardens or would like to volunteer to help maintain them, contact us.

Parking

The Maison Fairbairn House Board is planning for 28 parking spaces at the Centre. Cars can also park on Chemin du Vieux-Pont, on the south side of Hendrick Park, where buses must park.