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What was once the getaway of the industrialist owner of the Montreal Canadiens opens later this month as an intimate 11-room boutique hotel with a serene Canadiana vibe and sweeping views of Gatineau Park.

Long-empty O’Brien House, built on a promontory overlooking Meech Lake for J. Ambrose O’Brien in 1930, has been revived and rechristened simply as O’Brien.

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It opens March 30.

“We did our best to retain the integrity of the structure, and I think that’s been successful,” said Robert Milling of WMD Wakefield Mill Developments Inc. in the hotel’s library lined with shelves of board games and vintage books.

“Our intent was to create a feeling of a 1930s cottage lodge, obviously with contemporary touches. The objective is just to feel comfortable and relaxed, a place that’s like the biggest cottage you’ve ever been to.”

It’s been a four-year project for Milling — “1,465 days ago we started,” he quips — who envisioned a second Gatineau Park destination linked to his Wakefield Mill, which opened in 2001. O’Brien is about a two-hour ski from the mill and three km from Chelsea.

“The primary inspiration was the fact that it was in the park,” he said. “We’d always been looking for a sister property connected by ski trails.”

Milling, who already caters to cross-country skiing and cycling enthusiasts, is expecting an international clientele to come for three- or five-day ski, cycling and hiking trips, and to host meetings and small weddings. A fine-dining restaurant is overseen by chef Patrick Marion.

Rooms will range from $229 to $729 depending on size and season.