A Rural Renaissance

Richard Ouellette and Maxime Vandal turn a historic farm in southeastern Quebec into an abundant creative laboratory.

- By Stephanie Hunt

It's less of an aha moment than an ahhhh moment- that point when the exhale deepens and eyes widen to fully absorb the lush rolling hills east of Montreal. "As soon as we turn off the autoroute and cross the bridge, life gets better," says Richard Ouellette, who escapes the urban bustle with his life and business partner, Maxime Vandal, to dial it back at their farm in West Bolton (a little more than an hour's drive from the city). "We come nearly every weekend and sometimes on weeknights for a quick dose of nature. It grounds us," says Ouellette, a designer who draws inspiration from his childhood in the surrounding Eastern Townships region.