Maison, dite Hôtel de la Louvre ou de la Noue
MonumentHidden Treasure
Maison, dite Hôtel de la Louvre ou de la Noue, 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
- 48.1133, -1.6835
- Mérimée Reference
- PA00090697
A miraculous survivor of the fire of 1720, this 17th-century timber-framed town house in Rennes is striking for its carinated lantern and exceptionally elegant Doric pilasters.
History
In the heart of Rennes, the Hôtel de la Louvre - or de la Noue - stands out as one of the few surviving examples of the medieval and classical face of the city before the devastating fire of 1720. Built in the third quarter of the 17th century on land granted by the city, it is the epitome of the Breton way of adapting French classical architectural vocabulary to the local tradition of timber-framed construction. What immediately distinguishes the Hôtel de la Louvre from the rest of the buildings in Rennes is precisely the subtlety of its façade: half-timbered architecture that does not, however, abandon the clever ornamentation of classicism. The entrance door, framed by two fluted Doric pilasters and crowned by a bull's eye nestling in a triangular pediment, bears witness to a craftsman who mastered the antique orders perfectly, applying them with a rigour worthy of the great Parisian hotels. But it's when you look up at the roof that the visit reveals its real surprise: a two-tiered lantern covered in a hull shape, reminiscent of the upside-down hull of a ship, elegantly crowns the balustraded stairwell. This singular silhouette, almost maritime in its references, is a reminder that Rennes, the administrative capital of Brittany, was also a city of prosperous merchants with close links to the Breton ports. To visit the Hôtel de la Louvre is to experience several strata of Rennes history in a single building: town planning under the Ancien Régime, exceptional survival in the face of fire, and the encounter between the Breton art of building and the classical canons from Paris and Italy. For heritage lovers, this hotel is a must-see when exploring the old town of Rennes.
Architecture
The Hôtel de la Louvre belongs to the great tradition of timber-framed construction, a dominant technique in pre-1720 Rennes. The building is arranged over a ground floor topped by two upper storeys, in a sober but well-proportioned elevation. The façade skilfully plays on the complementarity between the timber frame, with cob or masonry infills, and decorative elements borrowed from the classical repertoire: fluted Doric pilasters framing the entrance door, a triangular pediment over the entire central bay, and a bull's eye in the pediment, a recurring motif in French architecture of the Grand Siècle. This blend of traditional Breton carpentry and the vocabulary of ancient orders is characteristic of the bourgeois mansions of the second half of the 17th century in provincial towns, where local craftsmen assimilated the architectural engravings distributed from Paris and adapted them to their own materials and skills. The interior still features a baluster staircase, an elegant vertical distribution solution typical of wealthy interiors of the period. The most spectacular and unusual feature of the building remains its roof: a two-storey lantern with a hull roof - reminiscent of the keel of an overturned ship - crowns the stairwell. This roof-lantern solution, which is both functional (lighting the central staircase) and decorative, gives the silhouette of the hotel an instantly recognisable character in the urban landscape of Rennes.
Related Figures
Les afféagistes de 1657 — commanditaires anonymes ayant obtenu les terrains de la ville de Rennes pour y bâtir l'hôtelLes échevins de Rennes (1657) — représentants municipaux ayant accordé l'afféagement des terrainsLa famille de la Noue — probable propriétaire ou occupant ayant laissé son nom à l'édificeLes artisans charpentiers rennais du XVIIe siècle — maîtres de la construction en pans de bois appliquant un décor classique
Tags
Nearby castles
Frequently Asked Questions
Where is Maison, dite Hôtel de la Louvre ou de la Noue located?
Maison, dite Hôtel de la Louvre ou de la Noue is located in Rennes, Département 35 department, Bretagne region, France.
When was Maison, dite Hôtel de la Louvre ou de la Noue built?
Maison, dite Hôtel de la Louvre ou de la Noue dates back to a period built during the Renaissance (16th century).
Is Maison, dite Hôtel de la Louvre ou de la Noue open to visitors?
Maison, dite Hôtel de la Louvre ou de la Noue is currently closed to visitors.
