The Manoir Boucher de Niverville is also known as the Maison Chastelain, since it was first inhabited by François Chastelain and his family between 1729 and 1751. He is also the one who modified and expanded the construction. His daughter, Marie-Josephte Chastelain, inherited this house when she married Joseph Claude Boucher de Niverville on October 5, 1757. A few generations of the Boucher de Niverville family followed, including Charles Boucher de Niverville.

The manor was later inhabited by Narcisse Martel, a lawyer, then by his nephew, Paul Martel. Mrs. Martel then sold her house to the Trois-Rivières tricentennial committee in 1940 to turn it into a museum. As of May 1941, the manor housed the Araignée d’or crafts counter, run by Albert Olivier, who rented the premises; the Syndicat d’initiative de la Mauricie was then also housed there. It was then the administrative staff of the Chambre de commerce de Trois-Rivières who occupied it.

Classified as a historical monument in 1960, the Manoir de Niverville is now owned by the City of Trois-Rivières, and the Culture Trois-Rivières corporation is responsible for its organization by allowing visitors from all over to discover its interiors and thematic exhibitions.

As for the artist, Léonce-Émile Cuvelier, he was a native of Paris (1874-1959). He established his studio in Trois-Rivières in late 1933.

As this watercolour shows, he painted places and buildings in his adopted city with taste and emotion.

Donation from a collector
Musée Pierre-Boucher Collection
2003 310 D