A Lakeside Lavender Farm

An Ottawa couple transformed an empty farm into a lavender dreamland

In 1980, Wilma Vreeswijk and Sylvain Segard were undergrads studying biology in Montreal, dreaming of their future life in the country. Vreeswijk, who majored in botany, and Segard, who studied ecology and entomology, would visit nearby farms and fantasize about their future homestead. At the time, it was a pipe dream—but one that stayed in the back of their minds in the years to come. 

They spent the next 30 years working (happily) in federal civil service. When retirement rolled around, they found themselves looking for a project. They wanted to move away from their home in Ottawa to a rural area in order to stay active, but they had no specific plans. That is until 2015, when they found a 5.6-acre green plot in Prince Edward County, Ontario. It had enough room to build a barn and good soil—the perfect opportunity for the couple to finally bring their farming dreams to life—and was a stone’s throw away from Lake Ontario. They drove home to put in an offer.

Vreeswijk, a master gardener, tested the soil and found it to be compatible with lavender; she proposed planting the whole field with it. Research showed her that while Canada can’t compete with bigger producers like France or Bulgaria in selling the raw flower itself, there was a local market for lavender-based products. She and Segard devised an agritourism business: a spot where they’d sell Vreeswijk’s homemade lavender soaps and beauty products, and honey wine made by Segard, a sommelier and distiller hobbyist. They named their farm Millefleurs, which means “a thousand blooms” in French. 

Having visited Prince Edward County before, the couple knew that the area’s food and wine market meant that they would have no trouble finding foot traffic for their business. They were also inspired by the entrepreneurial spirit of the county. “We’ve come full circle on something we had thought about doing when we were 19 years old and didn’t have a penny to our name,” says Vreeswijk. 

Turning the property from an empty plot into a livable home and business was a two-year whirlwind adventure. They cleared the land themselves and lived in a cottage in nearby Consecon for a month. By 2016, they were planting two-acre lavender fields, learning how to drive a tractor and plant in straightish lines, and establishing Segard’s apiary—all while maintaining their day jobs as civil servants. “We had never been farmers, so we had a huge learning curve,” says Vreeswijk. “But it was so much fun.”

After retiring in 2017, Segard moved into an RV parked on the property to supervise the build of their 2,800-square-foot dream home, which he planned and designed in collaboration with professionals. Airy but functional, the two-storey, four-bedroom house features a handcrafted wooden staircase, 18-foot coffered ceilings and a wraparound porch. The house was designed to show off the property’s stunning views, with walls of windows overlooking the lake, fields and orchards from anywhere in the house—even from the soaker bathtub in the primary ensuite. 

Segard and Vreeswijk added a meet-and-sleep retreat on the farm for their three adult children and grandkids. With a coach house above the garage, a bunk house for guests and a large patio for family barbecues, the homestead has hosted multiple family Olympics with events like piggyback jousting and egg-and-spoon races.

Segard says leaning on the skills they’d developed as civil servants was crucial during the farm’s rapid development. “I may not know the field, but I know how to get projects moving,” he says. Their knack for efficiency paid off: Segard and Vreeswijk moved into the house in November of 2018, less than two years after beginning the build. 

Establishing the farm came with some snags. For one, obtaining a wine production licence was thorny: to qualify to make honey wine, the Canadian government requires an on-site apiary that holds at least 100 colonies of bees. Segard ordered his first beehive the year they bought the land, learning about beekeeping as he grew his apiary. “Growing a hundred hives was a huge challenge, because you can lose 50 per cent of your hives in any given year,” says Vreeswijk. They finally received a production licence in January of 2020.

By 2019, Millefleurs was open for business, complete with a barn, a workshop and a small storefront selling lavender products. The field alone has more than 5,000 lavender plants, with both English and French varieties, as well as a half-acre fruit garden full of grapes and tomatoes. There’s no shortage of wildlife, including birds, bees and even swans, which float happily along the lakeshore.

In their first summer, Millefleurs welcomed around 7,000 visitors. The following season, after receiving comments from customers who missed out on lavender season from July to August, Vreeswijk and Segard expanded their fields to include later-blooming flowers like sunflowers, dahlias and zinnias.

As the business grew—18,000 people visited Millefleurs in the summer of 2020—so did the estate. Segard and Vreeswijk added fences to control foot traffic, expanded their parking lot and flipped a small barn into a refreshments booth to serve lavender lemonade. In 2021, Millefleurs welcomed 20,000 visitors. 

In 2023, the couple decided to close the business side of Millefleurs in order to spend more time with their grandchildren. They made their final renovations to the property with their own hobbies in mind, converting the winery into a clubhouse and entertainment barn. And Vreeswijk’s lavender lab now operates as a pottery studio. They’re selling the estate for $3,250,000. “We’re selling it because we want to put our family first,” says Vreeswijk. “We’re not afraid of change.”