Maison de bois (ancien hôtel Lagonidec, appelé aussi Maison du Coin)
MonumentHidden Treasure
Maison de bois (ancien hôtel Lagonidec, appelé aussi Maison du Coin), located in Rennes (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
- Rennes, Département 35, Bretagne
- Visit
- Closed to visitors
- GPS
- 48.1112, -1.6832
- Mérimée Reference
- PA00090696
In the heart of Rennes, this early 17th-century timber-framed house, once the home of the Lagonidec family, boasts a carved façade that bears rare witness to Breton civil architecture at the dawn of the classical era.
History
Standing on the corner of a street in the old town of Rennes, the Maison de Bois - also known as the Hôtel Lagonidec or the Maison du Coin - is one of the few remaining examples of the timber-framed civil architecture that populated the town before the great fire of 1720. In a city that rebuilt most of its urban fabric in stone after this disaster, each surviving half-timbered house is a living, precious and irreplaceable historical document. What immediately distinguishes the building is the generosity of its carpentry. The corner posts and runners bear sculpted motifs characteristic of the first quarter of the 17th century: foliage, geometric figures and Mannerist ornamentation inherited from the late Renaissance, adapted with a typically Breton vigour. The successive corbelling of the upper storeys, which protrude slightly into the street, gives the façade the curved profile so typical of timber-framed houses in the region. The visit begins at the pavement, where the eye is immediately captured by the play of oblique lines and sculpted mouldings that the patina of the centuries has enriched with a golden hue. It's easy to imagine the merchants, magistrates and notables of Rennes who have lived within these walls for over four hundred years, at a time when Rennes was asserting its role as the parliamentary capital of Brittany. Listed as a Historic Monument since 1926, the house enjoys well-deserved protection, guaranteeing the preservation of its original structures. It is part of a network of old houses in the historic centre of Rennes, a stone's throw from the Parliament of Brittany and the medieval squares that make up the heart of the city's heritage. For anyone strolling through the old town of Rennes, it's a must-see, an invitation to look up and read the city's history in the depths of its beams.
Architecture
The Maison de bois in Rennes is an eloquent illustration of the characteristics of oak-framed civil architecture in Brittany in the first quarter of the 17th century. Its structure is based on a solid half-timbering of vertical posts and horizontal pieces - runners and crossbeams - assembled using mortise and tenon joints in accordance with the carpentry rules of the time. The building, set on the corner of two streets, has two corbelled facades, with the upper storeys gradually extending onto the public thoroughfare, a technique that is both practical - to gain more living space - and aesthetically pleasing, giving the whole structure a dynamic silhouette characteristic of Breton urban houses. The most remarkable feature of the building is its richly decorated façade. The corner posts and brackets supporting the corbels are adorned with wood carvings combining a late-Mannerist vocabulary with provincial robustness: foliage scrolls, diamond-shaped geometric motifs, flat pilasters and stylised modillions bear witness to the spread of Renaissance ornamental engravings in Breton carpenter-sculptors' workshops. The wooden windows are set in regular bays punctuated by intermediate posts. The ground floor, probably given over to commercial activities or a carriage entrance, has wider openings adapted to the uses of urban economic life. The infill between the timber-framed walls - cob or brick, depending on the period of restoration - provides thermal insulation and stability. The steeply pitched roof, typical of the Breton climate, completes the silhouette of the building, giving it the strong verticality that signals from afar the presence of an old dwelling in the urban fabric of old Rennes.
Related Figures
Famille Lagonidec — propriétaires ayant donné leur nom à la demeure, notables rennais du début du XVIIe siècleJacques Gabriel — architecte de la reconstruction de Rennes après l'incendie de 1720, dont le travail contraste avec les maisons à pans de bois survivantesLouis XIV — dont la politique de répression après la révolte de 1675 a profondément marqué le destin urbain de RennesCharpentiers-sculpteurs rennais anonymes du premier quart du XVIIe siècle — artisans à l'origine de la décoration sculptée de la façade
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Frequently Asked Questions
Where is Maison de bois (ancien hôtel Lagonidec, appelé aussi Maison du Coin) located?
Maison de bois (ancien hôtel Lagonidec, appelé aussi Maison du Coin) is located in Rennes, Département 35 department, Bretagne region, France.
When was Maison de bois (ancien hôtel Lagonidec, appelé aussi Maison du Coin) built?
Maison de bois (ancien hôtel Lagonidec, appelé aussi Maison du Coin) dates back to a period built during the Renaissance (16th century).
Is Maison de bois (ancien hôtel Lagonidec, appelé aussi Maison du Coin) open to visitors?
Maison de bois (ancien hôtel Lagonidec, appelé aussi Maison du Coin) is currently closed to visitors.