Maison datée de 1604
MonumentHidden Treasure
Maison datée de 1604, located in Bazouges-la-Pérouse (Département 35), 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
- Bazouges-la-Pérouse, Département 35, Bretagne
- Visit
- Closed to visitors
- GPS
- 48.4268, -1.5748
- Mérimée Reference
- PA00090505
The Renaissance jewel of Bazouges-la-Pérouse, this house dates from 1604 and features carefully dressed ashlar facades crowned with an elegant corbelled cornice - a rare signature of Breton civil architecture.
History
In the heart of Bazouges-la-Pérouse, a medieval village perched on the edge of Brittany, a modest stone house catches the eye of the attentive walker. Dated 1604, this single-storey bourgeois residence is one of the few intact examples of early 17th-century civil architecture in Ille-et-Vilaine. Its discreet facade conceals a real sophistication in construction, revealing the skills of local masons at the crossroads between the late Renaissance and the early Classical period. What immediately sets this house apart is the quality of its ashlar work, which is treated with a regularity and care that are unusual for a residence of this size. The corbelled cornice that crowns all the façades adds a delicate sculptural rhythm, a direct legacy of the Renaissance vocabulary that spread from the great residences of the Loire to the provinces. Far from being a simple ornament, this cornice bears witness to an enlightened order, that of an owner anxious to assert his rank in local society. A small window in the corner completes the composition, with particular ingenuity: dealing with the corners of a civil building represented a considerable technical challenge, and the craftsmen of 1604 met it with remarkable economy of means. This seemingly insignificant detail reveals the technical mastery of builders well versed in the demands of wealthy clients in the Breton bocage. To visit this house is to plunge into the intimacy of the village of Bazouges-la-Pérouse, listed as one of the Most Beautiful Villages in France. The building is part of a coherent architectural ensemble that includes medieval dwellings, old covered market halls and the homes of notables - a setting that enhances the authenticity of the discovery. For visitors sensitive to ordinary but precious civil architecture, this house is a revelation of the daily life and social ambitions of the Breton rural elite on the threshold of the Grand Siècle.
Architecture
The 1604 house belongs to the late Renaissance style of civil architecture as seen in eastern Brittany: sober in its volumes, rigorous in its construction, but carefully decorated at strategic points. The building has a ground floor and a first floor, a classic configuration for town houses intended for mixed use - a shop or study on the ground floor and accommodation on the upper floor. The regularly coursed ashlar facades give the building a remarkable appearance of solidity and durability. The most striking feature of the composition is undoubtedly the corbelled cornice that crowns all the façades. These corbels, projecting blocks of stone supporting the cornice, create a play of light and shade characteristic of the Renaissance decorative repertoire, adapted here to a domestic scale. This crowning slightly overhangs the load-bearing walls and visually structures the elevations, clearly separating the levels while uniting the whole in a coherent composition. The small window in the corner is a particularly noteworthy technical and aesthetic detail: working the corner of an ashlar building requires a mastery of stereotomy - the art of cutting and assembling stones - that few craftsmen could master perfectly. Its presence here testifies to a high standard of workmanship, probably the work of a travelling master mason or one trained in a renowned workshop in the region.
Related Figures
Commanditaire anonyme de 1604 — bourgeois local (marchand ou officier) ayant financé la construction de la demeureMaître maçon inconnu — artisan ayant conçu et exécuté la corniche à corbeaux et la fenêtre d'angleHenri IV — dont le règne stabilisateur permit la reprise des commandes architecturales civiles en provinceInspecteurs des Monuments Historiques (1934) — responsables de l'inscription de l'édifice au patrimoine national
Tags
Nearby castles
Frequently Asked Questions
Where is Maison datée de 1604 located?
Maison datée de 1604 is located in Bazouges-la-Pérouse, Département 35 department, Bretagne region, France.
When was Maison datée de 1604 built?
Maison datée de 1604 dates back to a period built during the Renaissance (16th century).
Is Maison datée de 1604 open to visitors?
Maison datée de 1604 is currently closed to visitors.
