Maison dite La Maison du Pâtissier
MonumentHidden Treasure
At the heart of medieval Périgueux, the Maison du Pâtissier reveals a Gothic corner turret, a corbelled balcony and a squinch doorway of rare elegance — a discreet gem of Périgourdine civic architecture.
History
Nestling on the corner of two streets in old Périgueux, the Maison du Pâtissier is one of those bourgeois residences that tell the story, stone by stone, of the art of urban living in the late Middle Ages. Its popular name, inherited from a craft trade that has long since disappeared, gives it an endearing familiarity that contrasts with the real sophistication of its architecture. Listed as a Historic Monument since 1902, it is one of the most intact examples of the medieval fabric of a town with an exceptionally rich historic centre. What immediately sets the house apart is the subtlety of its architectural solutions. The entrance door, which opens onto the canted corner, is topped by a trompe l'oeil corbel - a constructional device used to re-establish the right angle at the upper level after the chamfer on the ground floor. This detail testifies to a technical mastery and aesthetic care that are rare in a civil construction of this scale. The inner courtyard, tiny but remarkably well thought out, holds a surprise in store: a wall-balcony crowned by a corbelled balustrade, which creates a suspended terrace opening onto a small pavilion topped by an imperial roof. This arrangement, described as "fairly common in Périgord town houses" by the architects of the Monuments Historiques, takes on a particularly accomplished form here. The corner turret of the main building is the most spectacular feature of the ensemble. Characteristic of Perigordian civil Gothic architecture, it is reminiscent of the great stately homes, while at the same time adapting to the constraints of the urban plot. A Louis XII-style window, albeit without its mullions, is a reminder that the house was also modernised at the turn of the 16th century, just as the Renaissance was tentatively beginning to influence local tastes. To visit the Maison du Pâtissier is to immerse yourself in the daily life of a prosperous Périgord bourgeois, in a town that was one of the economic capitals of the medieval south-west. The building is set in a district where each façade tells its own story, inviting you to take an architectural stroll that's as erudite as it is emotional.
Architecture
The Maison du Pâtissier is a late civil Gothic building, as practised in Périgord at the end of the 15th century: architecture that is restrained in its ornamentation but inventive in its spatial solutions. The plan is dictated by the configuration of a street corner, a constraint that the architect - or master mason - transformed into an advantage by installing the entrance door on the canted section, topped by a trompe l'oeil corbel that re-establishes the right angle at the upper level. This feature, both structural and decorative, is one of the building's most refined details. The main building, at least two storeys high, is enlivened by a polygonal corner turret that articulates the facades and breaks up the monotony of the walls. A Louis XII-style window, recognisable by its characteristic mouldings although its mullions are missing, lights up one of the upper floors and is a reminder of the influences from the Loire Valley that gradually spread to the south-west in the early 16th century. The inner courtyard, accessible from the street, is bounded by a low surrounding wall, crowned by a corbelled balustrade forming a terrace or gallery - a typical Périgord layout. This terrace leads to a small corner pavilion topped by an imperial roof, a form of low domed roof characteristic of the transition between the Gothic and early Renaissance periods. The materials used are those of traditional Périgord construction: cut local limestone for the structural elements and ornamentation, lime render for the common facings.
Related Figures
Commanditaire anonyme du XVe siècle — bourgeois ou marchand prospère de Périgueux ayant financé la construction initialeArtisan pâtissier (identité inconnue) — occupant emblématique qui donna son nom populaire à la demeureEugène Viollet-le-Duc — théoricien et inspecteur général des Monuments Historiques dont l'œuvre prépara la reconnaissance des architectures civiles médiévales comme celle-ciLouis XII (1462-1515) — roi de France dont le style ornemental caractérise la fenêtre remaniée de la façadeInspecteurs des Monuments Historiques de la fin du XIXe siècle — architectes et érudits qui identifièrent et défendirent le classement de 1902
