Maison dite de Sully
MonumentHidden Treasure
Maison dite de Sully, located in Henrichemont (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
- Henrichemont, Cher, Centre-Val de Loire
- Visit
- Closed to visitors
- GPS
- 47.3044, 2.5230
- Mérimée Reference
- PA00096811
Vestige d'une utopie urbaine du Grand Siècle, la maison dite de Sully à Henrichemont témoigne de l'ambition d'un ministre visionnaire qui rêvait d'une cité idéale à la française, tracée au cordeau par les plus grands architectes de son temps.
© Wikimedia Commons
History
In the heart of the Berry region, the small town of Henrichemont conceals an architectural secret that few travellers suspect: that of a town that was entirely conceived, planned and built at the dawn of the 17th century, as a demonstration of aesthetic and political strength. The Maison d'Sully, listed as a Historic Monument since 1955, is one of the rare material witnesses to this abortive urban adventure, and as such it has a heritage value that far exceeds its modest size. What makes this building truly unique is that it is neither a château nor a palace, but a bourgeois pavilion designed as part of an overall urban project, with a stylistic coherence conceived by Salomon de Brosse himself. Long known as the "fiscal prosecutor's house", it is the only survivor of the pavilions that lined the main thoroughfares from the Grande Place to the new town walls. Its decorative elements, which can still be seen on the façade, are an exceptional architectural document of the taste of the early late French Renaissance. The visit combines intimacy and elevation: you stroll down an ordinary street in a quiet market town, and suddenly find yourself face to face with a facade steeped in history and symbolism, the residue of an urban planning dream that the death of Henri IV and the disgrace of Sully were to shatter. The contrast between the initial ambition of the project and the current provincial calm of Henrichemont lends the site a particular melancholy, that of unfinished masterpieces. The Berrichon setting adds an extra sweetness to the visit. The Grande Place d'Henrichemont, whose orthogonal layout still betrays its original ambition, allows visitors to mentally place the house in its urban context. The whole of the town centre forms a coherent promenade, where the geometric logic intended by Sully and his architects can be seen, despite centuries of abandonment.
Architecture
The house, known as the Sully house, belongs to the emerging classicism of the early 17th century in France, the style that Salomon de Brosse helped to forge before François Mansart codified it definitively. The facades, probably built of ashlar quarried in the Berry region, have a sober, regular composition, characteristic of the Louis XIII style at its most austere: ordered bays, bays with moulded frames and a steeply pitched roof. The building's main interest lies in the sculptural decorative elements that remain on the façade - pilasters, mouldings, cornices and window surrounds - which, despite the effects of time, reveal the architectural grammar intended by Salomon de Brosse for all the pavilions in the new town. These carefully-crafted ornaments bear witness to the desire to give each house in the ideal city an architectural dignity that went beyond the ordinary dwelling. The layout of the building is in keeping with the standardised scheme envisaged by the urban project: regular-sized pavilions designed to form a coherent building frontage along the main roads, aligned with the street. This overall logic, perceptible despite the building's current isolation among the later constructions, is a reminder that the house was never conceived as an isolated architectural object, but as part of a grand collective design.
Related Figures
Maximilien de Béthune, duc de Sully — commanditaire de la ville d'Henrichemont et de la maison, surintendant des finances d'Henri IVHenri IV — roi de France en l'honneur duquel la ville fut nommée, protecteur du projetSalomon de Brosse — architecte chargé du dessin des maisons et de la direction générale des travauxClaude Chastillon — ingénieur topographe du roi, auteur probable du plan d'urbanisme régulier d'HenrichemontMarie de Médicis — régente après 1610, dont la politique contribua à la disgrâce de Sully et à l'abandon du chantier
Tags
Nearby castles
Frequently Asked Questions
Where is Maison dite de Sully located?
Maison dite de Sully is located in Henrichemont, Cher department, Centre-Val de Loire region, France.
When was Maison dite de Sully built?
Maison dite de Sully dates back to a period built during the Renaissance (16th century).
Is Maison dite de Sully open to visitors?
Maison dite de Sully is currently closed to visitors.
