Philadelphia Weekly

REAL ESTATE

Westmount: Canada's Beverly Hills?

Montreal borough has celebs, multimillion-dollar homes

By Inman News Feed

Add Comment | Comments: 0 | Posted Apr. 14, 2011

That house totaled 8,000 square feet and rested on a 20,000-square-foot plot of land. Paint's other big deals, homes that sold above $2 million, were in Westmount.

The highest-priced home Paint sold in Westmount fetched $3.5 million -- that home has 4,500 square feet, nestled on 11,000 square feet of land. "This home sits on the top of the mountain with an incredible view of the river and the city," she says.

Generally, you have good company in Westmount. Former motion picture actress Norma Shearer and singer Leonard Cohen were born in this neighborhood. Today, you can find a smattering of Montreal Canadian hockey players, former Prime Minister Brian Mulroney, Quebec Premier Jean Charest, racing driver Jacques Villeneuve, and fashion magnate Lawrence Stroll (Michael Kors).

As its own borough, Westmount has a few other desirable advantages, says Dufour.

"My parents moved to Westmount because as its own municipality (borough) you pay a little more in taxes, but the services are phenomenal," she says. "We get six months of winter, and even in a huge snowfall the streets are plowed within 36 hours, whereas the rest of Montreal can take upward of two weeks."

Steve Bergsman is a freelance writer in Arizona and author of several books. His latest book, "After the Fall: Opportunities and Strategies for Real Estate Investing in the Coming Decade," has been ranked as a top-selling real estate investment book for the Amazon Kindle e-reader.