Maison Pepin is 4,000 square feet of eclectic, design-forward offerings — and a return to owner Lysanne Pepin’s roots. When her first shop, Espace Pepin, opened in the ’90s, it offered fashion, art and vintage furniture. “It was a lifestyle store, which no one understood 20 years ago,” Lysanne says. Too ahead of its time, Espace evolved into a clothing store and its owner embraced its singular mission. Until, that is, March 2013, when Lysanne saw a retail space for rent four doors down from Espace’s location in Old Montreal. She bet that the city was finally ready for her original vision — and she was right.
Lysanne kept the building’s old ceiling but almost nothing else. A newly minimalist aesthetic shows off the shop’s lighting, furniture and accessories. Last year,…