This popular cultural and community meeting place has served Potton since the early 1980's. The Reilly House is a community fixture in Mansonville. It houses a popular Tea Room, a “Nearly New” clothing shop, a gift shop, a 2nd hand book nook, an exhibition room, computer and photocopying services. The Reilly house has served as a polling station, and part of the building is used by community groups, like Potton Heritage who rent office space and sewing space for the Potton Quilters, among others.
The Reilly House is named for its last private owner, Mrs. Beatrice Reilly, a Potton born lady with deep family roots here. She was born in 1889, Beatrice Boright, daughter of Henry Boright, son of Nelson Boright. What we now call the Reilly House was the Boright home. We know the house was built in the 1840's, because it housed the first Mansonville Customs House in 1844. The square “tower” at the front of the house was added by Henry Boright in order to house the family library.
Beatrice Boright married John Clark Reilly (1881-1956) and lived in Ottawa, where Mr. Reilly was the General Manager of Canadian Construction Association. Upon his retirement, the couple returned to Mansonville. J. Clark Reilly was also an ordained Methodist minister and sometimes took services in Mansonville United Church.
Mrs. Reilly was much respected and well liked in this community. She was endowed with an excellent memory and was custodian of extensive family archives that she gladly shared. Rev. J. Clark Reilly died in 1956. Mrs. Reilly continued to live here until health concerns dictated that she live closer to her family. She moved then to British Columbia and the Reilly house was put on the market – and so closed the Boright era in Mansonville.
In the 1980's, a group of citizens banded together to save the Reilly House from demolition. They formed a non-profit corporation, bought the building and industriously set about converting the building to its present vocation, helped greatly by a Katimavik group, a now defunct federally funded national youth volunteer programme.
The Reilly House continues to be largely operated by community volunteers. Part of the main floor, known as “Kenny's room”, is devoted to annual exhibitions and is sometimes called “the Museum”. The Reilly house has also been used as a polling station in federal elections. The Potton Quilters, or Courtepointe Potton, use the lowest floor in the Reilly House for their craft. An excellent example of their work depicting many landmarks of Potton hangs in the Council chamber of the Town hall. This group is comprised of talented ladies who keep this traditional craft alive and well in Potton.
According to the evaluation of Claude Bergeron, this building is of superior heritage value.
$Maison nommé en l’honneur de Madame Beatrice Reilly, née Boright (1889-1980, qui la possédait. Elle était l’épouse du Révérend John Clark Reilly (1881-1956). Cette maison construite vers 1840-44 par George Manson (1843-1929) est maintenant propriété d’une organisation sans but lucratif. L’Association y a loue un local pour fins d’entreposage et de réunion de son Conseil d’Administration. [1]
Cette maison, selon une évaluation de Bergeron et Gagnon, a une valeur patrimoniale supérieure. Cette classification tient compte uniquement de la valeur patrimoniale et laisse de coté l’état d’authenticité. [2]
[1] Source : Une promenade au village Mansonville, brochure de l’Association et Inventaire des Sépultures de Potton, Serge Gaudreau, en collaboration avec Pamela Guilbault et Andrée Gratton. [2] Source : Municipalité du Canton de Potton.