If you’ve ever jogged along Montreal’s Lachine Canal or driven down Rue Saint-Ambroise, you’ve probably looked up and spotted it: a tiny pink house perched at the very top of the abandoned Canada Malting plant, like something out of a Wes Anderson fever dream.
Now, the building it sits on is officially a safety hazard.
Développement La Malterie S.E.C., the developer that has owned the former Canada Malting site since 2024, announced on Thursday, October 1, that emergency measures are being put in place to secure the site. The move comes after an engineering report commissioned by the Sud-Ouest borough concluded that the building’s advanced state of deterioration represents an “imminent danger.” The report recommends demolishing it for public safety reasons.
Part of Rue Saint-Ambroise is closed
According to the developer, the site has been barricaded, monitored 24 hours a day and regularly inspected over the years. But the latest assessments found that the building is deteriorating at a worrying rate.
So a security perimeter has been set up around the site, and a section of Rue Saint-Ambroise has been closed to traffic since October 1.
There’s no word yet on when it will reopen. The developer says the closure will last as long as structural experts deem necessary. If you live in the area or regularly pass through on foot or by bike, you’ll want to plan for a detour for the foreseeable future.
Part of the building will be demolished
Once the site is secured, the developer plans a controlled demolition of the entire front section of the brick building. That’s still subject to approval from the borough and recommendations from demolition experts, who’ll also decide the order, timing and methods of the work.
And yes, the pink house is staying
Here’s the good news for anyone who has grown attached to Saint-Henri’s most mysterious landmark: the pink house isn’t part of the planned demolition. In fact, the developer says it plans to preserve it as part of its future project on the site.
That project, called La Malterie, would include 685 housing units, 20% of them social housing, plus community and public spaces, shops and local services. It also aims to reopen access to the Lachine Canal and preserve the site’s industrial history.
Nothing is set in stone yet, though. A preliminary request was filed in November 2025, and the borough is still reviewing the plans.
In a statement, Noam Schnitzer, speaking for the developer, said the company recognizes how important the old malting plant is to Saint-Henri’s history and wants the site’s identity to live on through the new project.
A little pink house with a lot of lore
For those who don’t know, the pink house first appeared atop one of the plant’s towers in the fall of 2019, and nobody has ever publicly claimed responsibility for it.
– YouTube www.youtube.com
Over the years, it has gotten green curtains, a flower box and even annual Christmas decorations, courtesy of a mystery daredevil who scales the ruins every December to leave a tree and a giant gift for the neighbourhood.
Back in 2020, then-owner Steven Quon told Narcity Québec that the climb to the top of the tower is roughly 142 feet, with the last 40 feet on an outdoor ladder. His verdict on whoever pulled it off? “The people who did this, they’re crazy.”
Whether the Christmas tree makes an appearance this year, with a security perimeter now around the building, is anyone’s guess.
This story was inspired by the article “Le site de la petite maison rose à Montréal est en « danger imminent » : Voici pourquoi which was originally published on Narcity.