Maison (ancien hôtel Baude du Val, ancienne maison de corsaire), located in Saint-Malo (Département 35), is a Renaissance château built in the 16th century. The monument is currently closed to visitors.
Joyau malouin du premier XVIIIe siècle, cet ancien hôtel de corsaire dresse ses façades de granit intra-muros, témoignant avec élégance de la fortune et du faste des grands armateurs de la Course.
In the heart of the corsair town, between the cobbled streets and the ramparts battered by the sea breeze, the former Hôtel Baude du Val epitomises the soul of Saint-Malo at the time of its maritime splendour. Built in the first quarter of the 18th century, at a time when racing and big business were making the shipowners of Saint-Malo fabulously rich, this private mansion tells the story of the quiet excesses of those who made their fortune at sea and invested it in stone on land. What makes this residence truly unique is the constant tension between the rigour of the Breton granite - robust, grey, almost austere - and the sophistication of the architectural details borrowed from French classical vocabulary. Moulded carriage entrance doors, elaborate window surrounds, regularly proportioned elevations: everything betrays the hand of a master builder anxious to signify the rank and social success of the client, in a town where competition between the great families was also played out on the facades of their hotels. To visit the Hôtel Baude du Val is to plunge into the hushed, tense atmosphere of the heyday of the Malouin race, when news of the catches at sea circulated from house to house and arms contracts were signed in oak-fired drawing rooms. The residence is part of the fabric of Saint-Malo's inner city, just a stone's throw from the houses of Surcouf and Maupertuis, forming an exceptional heritage district. The surrounding environment enhances the experience: the Vauban ramparts, the bell tower of Saint-Vincent cathedral, the sea air - everything helps to place this architecture in its geographical and human context. Lovers of urban heritage, maritime history buffs and photographers in search of low-angled light on granite will find here a subject of choice, discreet but profoundly eloquent.
The Hôtel Baude du Val belongs to the great family of Malouin private mansions from the early 18th century, characterised by the almost exclusive use of local grey granite, a material that is both constraining and noble, imposing a sober and robust aesthetic, far removed from the ornamental flights of limestone. The facade, sober in its classical layout, is built around regular bays of windows with moulded frames, arranged over two or three storeys. The entrance door, probably surmounted by a pediment or semi-circular arch, is the main element of visual hierarchy, a discreet but real signal of the patron's social importance. The interior layout follows the typical layout of a well-off Malouin mansion: a main building facing the street or courtyard, with a deep layout served by a stone staircase with balusters or a forged banister. The interior volumes - with French ceilings or moulded cornices, granite or fine limestone fireplaces - reflect a concern for comfort and representation typical of the merchant bourgeoisie of the late Louis XIV reign and the Regency period. The roofs, with their steep slopes typical of the Breton climate, are covered in natural slate, the dominant material throughout the inner city of Saint Malo. In the context of the post-1944 reconstruction, some elements were restored or consolidated, but the whole retains the proportions and spirit of classic Malouin architecture, whose remarkable stylistic unity makes the fortified town a coherent and recognisable heritage site.
Maison (ancien hôtel Baude du Val, ancienne maison de corsaire) is located in Saint-Malo, Département 35 department, Bretagne region, France.
Maison (ancien hôtel Baude du Val, ancienne maison de corsaire) dates back to a period built during the Renaissance (16th century).
Maison (ancien hôtel Baude du Val, ancienne maison de corsaire) is currently closed to visitors.
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Saint-Malo
Bretagne
