New semi-detached home near Lorraine
From the Grand Coteau to Sainte-Julie's Vilamo neighbourhood
From Lorraine city hall, on Montreal's North Shore, it's roughly 50 km by road to Geoffrion Street in Sainte-Julie. There, in the Vilamo neighbourhood backing onto the Club de golf La Vallée-du-Richelieu, Maisons Pépin is building BÉAcité: single-family semi-detached homes sold turnkey, with an all-inclusive program looking after the upkeep once you've moved in.
Two rivers and the St. Lawrence
Geoffrion Street, Sainte-Julie
All-inclusive program
BÉAcité at a glance, seen from Lorraine
ROUGHLY 50 MINUTES
With no traffic, from Lorraine city hall to Geoffrion Street, by Route 335, Highway 440 and the Highway 25 toll bridge.
85 SEMIS IN LORRAINE
That's what the 2021 Census counted there: 2.5% of dwellings, against 88.2% detached houses.
HANDED OVER FINISHED
A landscaped lot, a garage, a double driveway and an outlet to plug in an electric car.
ALL-INCLUSIVE UPKEEP
Once you've moved in, upkeep is fully looked after; the sales director hands you the details.
MANDATORY GUARANTEE
A new home sold by a builder in Quebec must be covered by the guarantee plan for new residential buildings.
A CLOSED ROOM OR AN OPEN NOOK
Slide the handle: on the left, an office with olive-green walls and a tall window, photographed at 435 Geoffrion Street; on the right, a workspace set beneath a high ceiling at number 405. Two ways to make room for work in a new home.
A visit worth planning from the North Shore
The sales office at 435 Geoffrion Street is open Monday to Friday, 9 a.m. to 4 p.m.; evening, Saturday and Sunday visits are by appointment. From Lorraine, the drive goes through the Louis-Hippolyte-La Fontaine bridge-tunnel, under major repairs until 2027 with lane restrictions that change from one phase to the next, so a call or text to 514-812-9633 lets you set a time that allows for the road.
Three timelines, your call
READY TODAY
At 405, 408, 423 and 435 Geoffrion Street, four turnkey homes are built and up for immediate sale.
IN ABOUT FOUR MONTHS
Several customizable homes can be sold quickly: you make your selections, then allow about four months before moving in.
DESIGNED WITH YOU
Twenty more homes, cottages or bungalows, are still waiting for their layouts and finishes.
OPTIONS THAT GO UP
A 338 sq ft mezzanine on the Duo cottage, a rooftop terrace or a cathedral ceiling in the dining room: options to settle before construction.
A new semi-detached home near Lorraine: a format worth the drive
You live in Lorraine and you're thinking about a new semi-detached home near Lorraine? Locally, that kind of house is hard to come by. The town was founded in 1960 to be essentially residential and made up mostly of single-family homes, and Statistics Canada's 2021 Census bears that out: 88.2% of its dwellings are detached houses, against 2.5% semi-detached. Little new housing has gone up there either: 80 dwellings between 2016 and 2021.
BÉAcité lies across the St. Lawrence, in Sainte-Julie on the South Shore. The project has 50 semi-detached homes along Geoffrion and Bissonnette streets, between Avenue des Bâtisseurs and Rue des Pionniers, with two parks and a retention pond. Each house comes with its own garage, a double driveway, a garden-level backyard and a private garden; several lots have no neighbours behind them.
In a hurry to move? Start with the four homes already built. Would you rather pick your own layout and finishes? Have a look at the customizable homes on offer.
Tell us about your plans in Lorraine
Information and visit request
Why aim for a new semi-detached home near Lorraine, on the South Shore
Lorraine is a town of homeowners: 97.6% of households own their home, and nearly half of all families are couples with children (2021 Census). Houses there are big, averaging 8.5 rooms. A new semi-detached home near Lorraine works out differently: a single shared wall, less ground to tend and rooms that come finished.
Standard features already installed
A quartz kitchen countertop, 9-foot ceilings, large windows in every room, a central forced-air gas system and central air conditioning: none of it has to be added later. The garage has its outlet for an electric car, and a cathedral ceiling is possible in the dining room.
A neighbourhood mapped out ahead of time
Vilamo brings together six builders, architectural guidelines that shape how the neighbourhood looks and dense landscaping that protects privacy. Its 600,000 sq ft of green space covers more than 15% of the neighbourhood; a promenade is shared by pedestrians, cyclists and electric transport, and every home is less than 300 m from a bus stop. In Sainte-Julie, the local bus is free.
Services on foot
A full commercial strip is within walking distance: medical services, a public market, restaurants, a pharmacy and a Caisse Desjardins. A bit farther, Promenades St-Bruno, Quartier DIX30 and IKEA are close at hand.
The outdoors, South Shore style
Fond of the Grand Coteau trails? Sainte-Julie has green spaces of its own: Espace Tonik Nature, billed as an extension of home into nature (beacite.com mentions three years of free membership), and, a few minutes away, Mont-Saint-Bruno National Park and its ski centre.
Renovating a 1960s–70s house or moving into something new
In Lorraine, 53.5% of dwellings were built between 1961 and 1980 (2021 Census). Renovating them is entirely possible, but any change to a property needs a town permit, and an addition or new exterior cladding goes before the planning advisory committee, which meets once a month except in December. A turnkey home arrives with new systems and the protection of the mandatory guarantee plan. How to weigh the two options:
Worth a read: turnkey new home near Lorraine
Two planned places, 50 km apart
Lorraine was laid out in 1960 as an eco-minded town, its utilities buried underground, with no industry and no high-density housing. Vilamo, in Sainte-Julie, is a planned development too: 33.5 hectares around a golf course, 15% of it community and recreational space according to the City of Sainte-Julie, under shared architectural guidelines. What carries over, and what changes:
Worth a read: planned neighbourhood near Lorraine
Selling, then moving in: lining up the dates
With 97.6% of households owning their home, a move out of Lorraine almost always starts with a sale. BÉAcité offers three horizons: a turnkey home right away, a customizable home ready in about four months, or a home you customize from the ground up. Enough to find the one that fits your own timeline:
Worth a read: moving from Lorraine to Sainte-Julie
Working from home, as seen in the floor plans
In May 2021, in the thick of the pandemic, 29.9% of Lorraine's workers did their jobs from home, compared with 21.9% across Quebec. If that's still you, the 50 km to Sainte-Julie count for less. Among the turnkey homes, 423 has an open office for working from home, and photos of 405 show a mezzanine set up as an office; on the Duo cottage, the optional mezzanine adds 338 sq ft:
Worth a read: home office near Lorraine
From a detached house to a semi-detached one
Going from a detached house to a semi-detached one means sharing a wall and keeping what matters: the garage, the double driveway, the backyard, the private garden. In Lorraine, a lot must have at least one tree per 100 m², and the town doesn't clear private driveways. At BÉAcité, landscaping is complete on delivery and upkeep is fully taken care of. The comparison, point by point:
Worth a read: detached or semi-detached home near Lorraine
New semi-detached home near Lorraine: common questions
Is BÉAcité in Lorraine?
No. BÉAcité is in Sainte-Julie, on the South Shore, in the Vilamo neighbourhood. From Lorraine city hall it's about 50 km: roughly fifty minutes without traffic over the Highway 25 toll bridge, or about 53 to 55 minutes toll-free via Highway 19, the Papineau-Leblanc bridge and Highway 40.
Can I get there from Lorraine by public transit?
On weekdays only, and it takes a little over two hours each way: an exo bus to Rosemère station, the train to De la Concorde station in Laval, the metro to Longueuil, an exo bus to the Sainte-Julie terminus, then a taxibus booked ahead. You'll need an All modes ABC fare. On weekends no bus runs as far as Geoffrion Street, so visits are by car and by appointment.
Which homes are ready to move into?
405, 408, 423 and 435 Geoffrion Street are turnkey homes available for immediate sale. Several customizable homes can be ready in about four months, and about twenty more, cottages or bungalows, are still open to customization.
Is a new BÉAcité home covered by a guarantee?
In Quebec, a new home sold by a builder must be covered by the mandatory guarantee plan for new residential buildings. The sales director will explain the coverage that applies. The homes are built by Maisons Pépin inc., holder of RBQ licence 8297-6796-29.
When can I visit?
The sales office at 435 Geoffrion Street welcomes visitors Monday to Friday, 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. In the evening and on Saturday and Sunday, visits are by appointment: 514-812-9633 by phone or text, or ventes@beacite.com.
Is BÉAcité in Lorraine?
No. BÉAcité is in Sainte-Julie, on the South Shore, in the Vilamo neighbourhood. From Lorraine city hall it's about 50 km: roughly fifty minutes without traffic over the Highway 25 toll bridge, or about 53 to 55 minutes toll-free via Highway 19, the Papineau-Leblanc bridge and Highway 40.
Four homes to tour on Geoffrion Street
Each of the four turnkey homes has its own character. 405 Geoffrion Street offers a mezzanine, three bedrooms and a rooftop terrace. Photos of 408 Geoffrion Street show an office behind a glass door, with built-in shelving, and a living area under a cathedral ceiling. 423 Geoffrion Street is a three-bedroom Duo home with a custom wine cellar, an open office and a finished basement. At 435 Geoffrion Street, home to the sales office, the photos reveal a residential elevator. All of them can be toured with the sales director.
Maisons Pépin, the builder behind BÉAcité
Maisons Pépin has 30 years of experience and more than 2,000 housing units to its name: single-family homes, townhouses and condominiums. Its founder, engineer Michel Pépin, has helped build new homes in Boucherville, Sainte-Julie, La Prairie and Brossard. The company has won five Domus awards from the APCHQ, including Builder of the Year. To meet the team, from site management to design, see the page about the builder.
The floor plans, before you hit the road
Coming from Lorraine, it pays to arrive knowing what you've come to see. Go through the floor plans of all three models: the single-storey semi-detached bungalow, with 1,006 sq ft on the ground floor; the Duo cottage, with 2,018 sq ft of living space on two floors; and the Urbain model, with 1,622 sq ft of living space. You'll know ahead of time where the kitchen, bedrooms and garage sit, and where the optional mezzanine would go.
Dropping by the sales office
A new semi-detached home near Lorraine is best judged in person, opening doors and looking out the windows. The sales office at 435 Geoffrion Street welcomes you Monday to Friday, 9 a.m. to 4 p.m., and by appointment in the evening or on weekends. Eddy Guessous, sales director, can be reached at 514-812-9633 (call or text) and at ventes@beacite.com. To arrive at the right time, plan your stop.