Deux maisons du 16e siècle
MonumentHidden Treasure
Deux maisons du 16e siècle, located in Beaulieu-lès-Loches (Indre-et-Loire), 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
- Beaulieu-lès-Loches, Indre-et-Loire, Centre-Val de Loire
- Visit
- Closed to visitors
- GPS
- 47.1296, 1.0113
- Mérimée Reference
- PA00097568
Two 16th-century timber-framed houses, linked by a 17th-century vaulted passageway, embody the discreet charm of Touraine domestic architecture in Beaulieu-lès-Loches.
© Wikimedia Commons
History
In the heart of Beaulieu-lès-Loches, a small medieval town nestling against the meandering Indre, these two 16th-century houses are a rare and touching example of ordinary Renaissance civil architecture in Touraine. Far from the splendour of the Loire châteaux that dominate the region's imagination, they are a reminder that the French Renaissance also found its way into the streets of small towns, fashioning modest yet elegant residences. The first house has a stone ground floor topped by an upper floor of wood and hoarding, and ends in the sloping slope of a roof typical of popular Loire buildings. The second, more assertive, has a gable facing the street and is two storeys high with half-timbering, an urban formula that made it possible to optimise the footprint by gradually overhanging the road. This dialogue between stone and wood is a signature of the Touraine region, where the white tufa stone from local quarries is used alongside chestnut and oak frameworks. What makes the ensemble truly unique is the junction achieved in the 17th century between the two buildings: an intermediate construction, with a semi-circular door on the ground floor, links the two main buildings in a single composition. This architectural detail, sober but skilfully proportioned, tells the story of the continuous evolution of urban construction over the centuries. Now that the interiors have been extensively remodelled, the richness of these façades is best revealed from the street. Attentive visitors will take time to observe the texture of the materials, the discreet modenature, the roof lines and the assembly of volumes that testify to a popular urbanity that has disappeared. Beaulieu-lès-Loches, often overshadowed by its neighbour Loches, is well worth a visit for its well-preserved narrow streets and its Romanesque abbey church - these houses are one of its hidden gems.
Architecture
The complex comprises two 16th-century main buildings linked by a 17th-century bay, forming a composite facade that reflects several decades of development in Touraine buildings. The first house adopts the so-called "mixed" formula: an ashlar base - probably made of tuffeau, a soft, white limestone typical of the Loire Valley - on which rests a timber frame with hoarding. The sloping roof directly tops the upper storey, giving the façade a low, compact silhouette typical of high rural housing. The second house is entirely timber-framed over two storeys, with the gable facing the street. This type of layout, common in the shopping streets of medieval market towns, maximised the depth of the building while limiting the frontage onto the public thoroughfare. The half-timbering, probably made of oak or chestnut depending on local resources, forms a network of uprights, cross-members and possibly oblique outriggers, the proportions of which reflect the regional carpentry skills of the early 16th century. The 17th-century junction, which is more restrained, introduces a classical vocabulary: the semi-circular arched door with a keystone that may be underlined, marks the transition from a medieval-Renaissance style to a more rational language. This link between the two buildings makes the ensemble a veritable stratigraphic document of French civil architecture, visible from the street as a palimpsest of stone and wood.
Related Figures
Foulques Nerra — comte d'Anjou, fondateur de l'abbaye de Beaulieu au XIe siècle, à l'origine du développement du bourgArtisans maçons tourangeaux anonymes du XVIe siècle — bâtisseurs des deux maisonsCharpentiers locaux anonymes — auteurs des structures à pans de bois caractéristiques de la régionPropriétaire inconnu du XVIIe siècle — commanditaire de la jonction en plein cintre unissant les deux corps de logisFrançois Ier — roi de France dont le règne correspond à l'apogée de la Renaissance en Touraine, contexte de construction des maisons
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Frequently Asked Questions
Where is Deux maisons du 16e siècle located?
Deux maisons du 16e siècle is located in Beaulieu-lès-Loches, Indre-et-Loire department, Centre-Val de Loire region, France.
When was Deux maisons du 16e siècle built?
Deux maisons du 16e siècle dates back to a period built during the Renaissance (16th century).
Is Deux maisons du 16e siècle open to visitors?
Deux maisons du 16e siècle is currently closed to visitors.