Ancien hôtel Poulain, actuellement office de tourisme
MonumentHidden Treasure
Ancien hôtel Poulain, actuellement office de tourisme, located in Quintin (Département 22), is a Renaissance château built in the 16th century. The monument is currently closed to visitors.
Key facts
- Type
- autre
- Period
- Renaissance (16th century)
- Location
- Quintin, Département 22, Bretagne
- Visit
- Closed to visitors
- GPS
- 48.4031, -2.9103
- Mérimée Reference
- PA00089559
Joyau architectural du XVIe siècle au cœur de Quintin, cet hôtel particulier breton séduit par ses étages en encorbellement, sa figure humaine sculptée à l'angle et sa toiture à coyaux d'une rare élégance.
History
Nestling in the heart of Quintin, a small town of character in the Côtes-d'Armor perched on its natural promontory, the former Hôtel Poulain is one of the most striking examples of Breton civil architecture from the late 16th century. Now converted into a tourist office, it welcomes visitors every year who cross its threshold without always realising the wealth of heritage that surrounds them. Classified as a Historic Monument since 1977, this building is much more than just an administrative building: it's a page of stone on the urban and social history of Brittany under the Ancien Régime. What sets the Hôtel Poulain apart from its contemporaries is above all the discreet sophistication of its façade. The two storeys successively widen out into overhangs, using the corbelling principle so dear to Breton master carpenters, creating an inverted pyramid effect that is both bold and elegant. The floor beams, left exposed in accordance with regional custom, are supported by sculpted brackets that punctuate the façade and testify to the care taken by the patron to represent his social success. The corner of the building alone represents the quintessence of local decorative art: a sculpted human figure, placed under the first floor beams, watches over the street like a stone sentinel. This type of ornament, typical of Breton middle-class houses of the period, reveals the influence of the humanist and Renaissance currents that permeated Armorican stonemasons' workshops at the time. A visit to the Hôtel Poulain is a natural part of a stroll through Quintin, whose narrow streets still contain a number of 16th and 17th century houses that form a coherent, well-preserved urban ensemble. From inside the tourist office, you can appreciate the framework and layout of the interior spaces, faithful to the organisation of a provincial mansion belonging to the merchant or wealthy bourgeoisie. The setting of Quintin itself enhances this discovery: the town occupies the tip of a promontory between two green valleys, dominated by its castle, and offers urban perspectives that have changed very little since the Grand Siècle. Over the centuries, the Hôtel Poulain has weathered the city's changes to become its leading heritage ambassador.
Architecture
The Hôtel Poulain illustrates with rare purity the model of the multiple corbelled house typical of inland Brittany at the end of the Renaissance period. The facade follows a logic of gradual overhang: each storey slightly overhangs the one below, in accordance with a timber-framed or mixed masonry construction technique that was very common in Breton towns of the period. This system, which is both structural and aesthetic, gives the building its characteristic silhouette, which is both compact and dynamic. One of the building's most distinctive features is its coyote roof with three eaves. Coyaux are small structural elements added at the foot of the slope to deflect rainwater away from the walls, while softening the slope of the roof at its base. This arrangement, typical of Breton roofs, creates a slightly curved roof profile that is both elegant and functional. The presence of three gutters suggests an L-shaped plan or an angled layout, adapted to the morphology of the urban plot. The sculpted ornamentation reflects all the refinement of the commission: the brackets supporting the exposed floor beams have carefully moulded profiles, while the sculpted human figure at the corner of the building, placed under the first floor beams, embodies the humanist vein that ran through Armorican craftsmanship at the time. This type of figure, half karatid, half console, reveals the knowledge that Breton stonemasons had of the models disseminated by Italian and French architectural treatises of the Renaissance.
Related Figures
Famille Poulain — bourgeois quintenais ayant commandité et donné leur nom à l'édifice, probablement actifs dans le négoce de toiles à la fin du XVIe siècleMaîtres charpentiers bretons anonymes — artisans responsables de la mise en œuvre des encorbellements et de la charpente à coyauxTailleurs de pierre locaux — sculpteurs de la figure humaine à l'angle et des consoles moulurées, formés dans la tradition renaissante armoricaineSébastien de Rosmadec — duc de Quintin au XVIIe siècle, dont le mécénat et la présence aristocratique stimulèrent l'essor architectural de la villeInspecteurs des Monuments Historiques — responsables du dossier de classement abouti en décembre 1977, garantissant la sauvegarde de l'édifice
Tags
Nearby castles
Frequently Asked Questions
Where is Ancien hôtel Poulain, actuellement office de tourisme located?
Ancien hôtel Poulain, actuellement office de tourisme is located in Quintin, Département 22 department, Bretagne region, France.
When was Ancien hôtel Poulain, actuellement office de tourisme built?
Ancien hôtel Poulain, actuellement office de tourisme dates back to a period built during the Renaissance (16th century).
Is Ancien hôtel Poulain, actuellement office de tourisme open to visitors?
Ancien hôtel Poulain, actuellement office de tourisme is currently closed to visitors.
