Maison ancienne (face au portail d'entrée de l'église)
MonumentHidden Treasure
Maison ancienne (face au portail d'entrée de l'église), located in Fontaines-en-Sologne (Loir-et-Cher), 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
- Fontaines-en-Sologne, Loir-et-Cher, Centre-Val de Loire
- Visit
- Closed to visitors
- GPS
- 47.5093, 1.5496
- Mérimée Reference
- PA00098440
Facing the church gate in Fontaines-en-Sologne, this 16th-century timber-framed and brick house epitomises the authentic village building style of the Sologne region.
History
Nestling in the heart of the market town of Fontaines-en-Sologne, in the Loir-et-Cher region where dense forests and ponds have always dictated the shape of settlements, this old house is one of the most precious examples of 16th-century rural civil architecture in the Sologne region. Located opposite the entrance to the parish church, it forms a remarkably coherent heritage ensemble with this religious edifice, two buildings born of the same constructive will, the same era and the same territory. What immediately distinguishes this residence is the legibility of its traditional construction techniques. While the main facade facing the square has been altered and plastered over the centuries, the rear facade has retained its original appearance: a rubble stone ground floor topped by a timber-framed first floor with brick infill. This alternation of materials - stone, wood and brick - is the very signature of Sologne architecture, dictated by the local availability of natural resources and by craftsmanship handed down from generation to generation. The wing set back to the left, housing the outbuildings, extends this ensemble with its own plastered timber framing, while the left side facade retains the moving traces of a lost fireplace, like the fossilised memory of fires lit five centuries ago. These architectural clues make each wall a page of history to be deciphered. To visit this house - or simply to look at it from the church square - is to grasp at a glance what daily life was like in a Sologne village during the Renaissance. Far from the splendour of the grand mansions on the nearby Loire, this is an architecture of the necessary and the lasting, sober and sincere, that speaks directly to those who know how to look. A discreet monument, listed as a Historic Monument since 1948, it is well worth a visit.
Architecture
The old house at Fontaines-en-Sologne is a typical example of rural Sologne Renaissance architecture, pragmatically combining locally available materials: limestone or sandstone rubble for the lower sections, timber-framed with brick infill for the upper sections. This vertical division of materials is a constant in Solognese construction, dictated as much by static reasons - masonry ensures the stability of the base - as by economic and climatic reasons. The restored main facade features a rendered masonry ground floor and a first floor whose timber-framed and brick structure has been restored. The rear facade, which has not been altered, retains its original constructional grammar, providing a valuable counterpoint to the street facade. On the left wing, the outbuildings, also of half-timbered construction with rendering, form a second volume that organises the space around a courtyard or garden, in an L-shaped layout common in 16th-century rural housing. The left side facade also bears the remains of an elevated chimney, a valuable clue to the original layout of the interior and the heating system used in the working and living areas. The roof, with its original load-bearing half-timbering, would have been covered in flat tiles, the preferred material of Sologne roofers. The overall impression is one of functional sobriety, far removed from any superfluous ornamentation, typical of the homes of 16th-century craftsmen and tradesmen in rural areas.
Related Figures
Les maîtres maçons et charpentiers anonymes du XVIe siècle, bâtisseurs de l'église et probables constructeurs de la maisonLes curés de Fontaines-en-Sologne, figures tutélaires dont la demeure ou les communs auraient pu dépendreLes inspecteurs des Monuments Historiques du XXe siècle ayant instruit le dossier d'inscription de 1948Les artisans restaurateurs du XXe siècle ayant remis en valeur la façade sur place
Tags
Frequently Asked Questions
Where is Maison ancienne (face au portail d'entrée de l'église) located?
Maison ancienne (face au portail d'entrée de l'église) is located in Fontaines-en-Sologne, Loir-et-Cher department, Centre-Val de Loire region, France.
When was Maison ancienne (face au portail d'entrée de l'église) built?
Maison ancienne (face au portail d'entrée de l'église) dates back to a period built during the Renaissance (16th century).
Is Maison ancienne (face au portail d'entrée de l'église) open to visitors?
Maison ancienne (face au portail d'entrée de l'église) is currently closed to visitors.