Manuela Teixeira, president and CEO of Square Old Chelsea is seen in front of her business, Biscotti et Cie. Photo by Jean Levac /Jean Levac

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When Manuela Teixeira bought the Chelsea Pub almost two decades ago, it needed a big makeover.

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It was about time. For that matter, that heritage building on Old Chelsea Road had undergone multiple transformations during the previous 130 or so years. As far back as the mid-1870s, it was Ed Dean’s Hotel, a home away from home for hard-living loggers. A succession of owners and businesses followed, including a mid-20th-century pitstop called Trudeau’s Snack Bar. Before Teixeira and her then-husband Nicolas Cazelais bought the property in 2008, it was the Chelsea Restaurant for 20 years.

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“It was a little bit rundown. I thought, ‘What can we do with it?'” Teixeira says.

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She worked on the decor and feel of the place. She especially wanted to make the pub more appealing to women. “Before I was there, you didn’t see any women there because you didn’t really feel welcome. I have a clear recollection of saying, ‘OK, as a woman, I have to be able to sit at the bar and feel welcomed and feel good.'”

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Manuela Teixeira, president and CEO of Square Old Chelsea is seen in the Chelsea Pub. Photo by Jean Levac /Jean Levac

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Teixeira (pronounced Teh-share-ah), more than achieved her goals. The Chelsea Pub grew piece by piece over the last 20 years into a high-volume restaurant and focal point for the community.

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What’s more, Teixeira’s success at the pub paved the way for her to pull off an even more impressive transformation. Thanks to Teixeira’s vision and investments, her collection of businesses and attractions beside the pub, now called Square Old Chelsea, has essentially become Chelsea’s “downtown.”

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Built according to a multi-phase plan that Teixeira has nurtured since before the pandemic, Square Old Chelsea includes everything from a gourmet cafe to upscale, loft-style accommodation to a distillery and cocktail bar. Teixeira says she and her business partner have invested $30 million to create Square Old Chelsea, which now employs about 150 people.

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“I could’ve just taken the money and kept it for myself,” she says. “Ultimately, my goal has been to help Old Chelsea become a destination that residents are proud of and visitors remember.”

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Brian Nolan was elected as the Mayor of Chelsea in November 2025. He raves about Teixeira’s contributions to his municipality.

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“Everything she touches is gold,” says Nolan, who has lived in Chelsea for more than 30 years.

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“I knew Chelsea when there was nothing here. We had the Chelsea Pub and that was it,” he says.

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More than two decades ago, you could count the number of businesses on Old Chelsea Road, west of Highway 5, on one hand, says Chris Kaarsberg, Chelsea resident and owner of La Cigale — a 25-year-old ice cream shop around the corner from Square Old Chelsea. It’s one of the few local businesses that pre-dates the arrival of Teixeira and her vision to the neighbourhood.

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Teixeira, Kaarsberg says, “has got a really good business sense and her projects are always beautiful. Her architectural vision is amazing.”

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Kaarsberg says La Cigale’s business has boomed since the lull of the COVID-19 pandemic gave people more time to discover Chelsea and its attractions, including Square Old Chelsea.

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“The more there is to offer people, the more people will come,” Kaarsberg says.

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Teixeira agrees, citing the statistic that Gatineau Park welcomes 2.6 million visitors annually. With all that Square Old Chelsea offers, “there’s something to do now,” she says. “Now, the difference is that they go to the park, and then they come around here and they stay.”

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According to the Municipality of Chelsea, the Chelsea area was first settled in the 1800s, although it was known to Indigenous peoples and fur traders long before.

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“It was a sleepy town,” La Cigale’s Kaarsberg says.

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Geneviève Latulippe, CEO of Outaouais Tourism, meanwhile is unstinting in her praise for Teixeira and her initiatives.

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“Manuela transformed Chelsea’s tourism landscape. She literally built it,” Latulippe says.

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Teixeira was on the board of directors of Outaouais Tourism from 2008 to 2017, and from 2013 to 2017 she chaired the board. “She dedicated nearly a decade to advancing the region’s tourism industry,” Teixeira says.

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The first phase of her plan was to open her cafe Biscotti & Cie, which maintains an appealing showcase of baked goods and a offers a soothing, well-crafted ambience that benefits from Teixeira’s attention to detail.

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Biscotti & Cie is the gourmet cafe of the Square Old Chelsea development. Photo by Square Old Chelsea

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“It has become a gathering place where people meet friends, work remotely, enjoy a great pizza or simply take a break,” Teixeira says. “For many residents, it has become part of their daily routine.”

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Despite the pandemic, Teixeira opened Les Lofts du Village in the summer of 2020. Its spacious rooms have a Nordic feel to them and the development blurs into the forest around it.

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One of the rooms at Lofts du Village, the apartment building that’s part of Square Old Chelsea in Chelsea, Quebec. Photo by Square Old Chelsea

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“We wanted accommodations that combine comfort, nature and design,” Teixeira says. “What makes it special isn’t just the accommodation, it’s the setting — lush gardens between the buildings, the quiet beauty of the first snowfall through the oversized windows, the earthy scent that rises after a summer shower.”

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More recently, Teixeira added the copper-still-equipped Distillery du Square and its bar, La Cocktaillerie to her portfolio, as well as the Terrasse du Square patio.

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The small-batch distillery produces distinctive gins, an amaretto and other Italian-style spirits. It’s geared to tourists and visitors, allowing them to see how the facility operates.

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The patio has becomes Chelsea’s public square, hosting live music shows, events for Saint-Jean-Baptiste Day and Canada Day, as well as artisan markets and community events. “What has been most rewarding is seeing people of all ages enjoying the space together,” Teixeira says.

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Terrace du Square is the patio of the Square Old Chelsea development in Chelsea, Quebec. Photo by Square Old Chelsea

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Teixeira explains that her businesses continually reinforce one another.

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“Let’s produce our own products and then we know that we can be our first clients,” she says. “The pub is a big client of the distillery and Biscotti is a client of the distillery. For the distillery, the upstairs (cocktail bar) is a client.

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“People come to the pub, they stay at the lofts, they come to the distillery, they go for lunch or breakfast at Biscotti and they stay around,” Teixeira says.

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“I like to say that I do economic convergence.”

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Apart from her multi-phase plan for Old Chelsea, Teixeira’s group expanded this spring, when it began operating the historic Maison O’Brien hotel, the National Capital Commission-owned property overlooking Meech Lake.

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Maison O’Brien at 650 Chem. du Lac-Meech. Photo by Tony Caldwell /Postmedia

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The 11-room boutique hotel to her portfolio was “a good deal,” Teixeira says. “The place itself was in good shape. We just had to do a lot of painting, wallpaper, refurbishing, stuff like that. We have a great collaboration with the NCC, which is really good and appreciated.”

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A guest room at Maison O’Brien, a just-opened boutique hotel in Chelsea that overlooks Meech Lake. Photo by Square Old Chelsea

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Maison O’Brien “reflects the same philosophy that guides all of my projects: creating places that are meaningful, where people connect and create memories.”

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Teixeira, 56, was born in Portugal. She came to Canada when she was two-and-a-half, her family settling in Gatineau’s Hull sector when it was still its own city.

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“All the Portuguese were living in downtown Hull,” Teixeira says. “It was where people went when you were an immigrant.”

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She studied business administration at Université du Québec en Outaouais and later managed Kolegram, an award-winning marketing and communications company, in the early 2000s.

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“I always loved my job,” Teixeira says. “But what I found is that I was always in the position of working for others. You have clients, you have to respond to the clients’ expectations, clients’ needs. And I really wanted to do it for myself.”

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Then Teixeira and her then-husband bought the Chelsea Pub. “When we first bought the pub, I said, ‘Oh, OK, here’s an opportunity. Maybe I can do something with that and take my marketing knowledge and experience and apply it here.'”

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Later, the couple acquired the Gainsbourg, a Hull sector brasserie. They also launched Gatineau’s Festibière, the long-standing beer festival.

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In 2017, when Square Old Chelsea was still in its early stages, Teixeira needed a new business partner. She turned to Martin Paquette, the founder and CEO of Groupe Nordik, which includes Nordik Spa Village Chelsea. Paquette, who opened his spa in 2005, less than a kilometre east of the Chelsea Pub, bought out Cazelais.

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Paquette says he has a 50-per-cent stake in Square Old Chelsea, but leaves its operations to Teixeira and calls her the face of the company.

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“I really liked her vision. I’m helping her to accomplish her dream,” Paquette says.

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“Every partnership involves a leap of faith,” Teixeira says. “There were many uncertainties. And building something meaningful requires trust, resilience and a willingness to face challenges together. Looking back, it was certainly a risk, one that allowed us to accelerate the growth of the project.”

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Given the longstanding rural character of Chelsea, Teixeira’s plans met with some early opposition.

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“I did do a lot of consultations,” Teixeira recalls. “The ones that were not happy, they let us know … The way I analyze it is that there was a lot of nostalgia.

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“Yes, I am developing, but I think that what I have developed is going to stay there a long time,” Teixeira says. “It’s actually the heritage of tomorrow.”

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Nolan, Chelsea’s mayor, says Teixeira has respected Chelsea’s past. “Everything she’s been doing has been done with taste … she’s keeping the rural character of Chelsea intact.”

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The one challenge that both Teixeira and La Cigale’s Kaarsberg mention is the lack of sufficient parking to accommodate Chelsea’s visitors and its residents.

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“We’re all struggling with the parking, but I guess it’s a sign that things are going well,” Kaarsberg says.

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People who pine for the old days should also recall that businesses had it that much harder, Teixeira suggests.

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“What I remember is that during the winter time, it used to be called ‘Ghost Town,'” she says. “A lot of businesses, they wouldn’t survive.”

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Even now, it’s hard for businesses in nearby Wakefield, Teixeira says. “You see them open up and close down and open up and close down. It’s the same thing.”

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In Chelsea, it’s not only Teixeira’s project that’s growing. The municipality itself is booming with new homes, so much so that its infrastructure needs to catch up.

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There’s a moratorium on the construction of new homes in Chelsea because the water and sewage systems can’t handle more residents, Nolan says.

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“We’re victims of our success,” Nolan says. While Chelsea’s population was about 4,000 when he moved there three decades ago, it’s now more than 8,000, thanks to housing developments such as Hendrick Farm, the Meredith District and Chelsea Creek. The moratorium on new homes is to lift in two years, and in a decade, the population of Chelsea should be around 15,000 people, Nolan says.

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“We have to grow and move on.”

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Paquette, who is also involved in developing housing in Chelsea, says the hot local market shows that homebuyers find the municipality’s “amazing lifestyle” attractive. “Manuela has had a big part in creating that lifestyle” and in driving up property values, he says.

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Teixeira’s transformative vision for Square Old Chelsea is still growing.

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The next phase of the plan would create 20 units of more affordable accommodation for visitors, or even a building where visitors and some of her employees could stay, Teixeira says. There’s a clear business case for adding more accommodation.

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“The pub makes a lot of money, but then it’s a lot of work. It’s a lot of employees, it’s very demanding,” she says. “The great thing about accommodation is that you have less revenue, but then you have a lot less costs, so the margins are really, really good.”

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More than that, affordable accommodation would bring a greater diversity of people to spend time in the village and enjoy its restaurants, shops and activities, Teixeira says.

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But when this final phase of Square Old Chelsea is completed, will Teixeira truly be done?

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“I don’t believe a place like Square Old Chelsea is ever truly finished,” she says. “Villages evolve, communities change. There will always be opportunities to improve what we offer, while respecting the character of the community.”

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