Maison dite maison Novello
MonumentHidden Treasure
Maison dite maison Novello, located in Rennes (Département 35), is a historic monument. The monument is currently closed to visitors.
Key facts
- Type
- autre
- Location
- Rennes, Département 35, Bretagne
- Visit
- Closed to visitors
- GPS
- 48.1093, -1.6916
- Mérimée Reference
- PA35000084
A veritable calling card in concrete and mosaics, the Novello house in Rennes embodies the modernist audacity of the 1920s: polychrome facades, blue ceramics and mosaic interiors of rare decorative coherence.
History
At the junction of rue Coulabin and avenue du Mail, the Novello house stands as a discreet but radical manifesto of Rennes' modernity in the Roaring Twenties. Built from 1925 onwards by and for entrepreneur Rodolphe Novello, it is more than just a house: it is a life-size demonstration of everything that reinforced concrete, moulded cement, mosaics and fibre cement can achieve in the hands of a visionary craftsman. Where most middle-class houses of the time still relied on ashlar or vernacular brick, Novello House has a resolutely cubic massing, topped by a flat roof with an overhanging cornice that breaks with the traditional silhouette of Breton roofs. Its eggshell-coloured façade, enhanced by a base that imitates grey granite and punctuated by vertical fibre cement panels encircled by blue ceramic tiles, creates a subtle chromatic balance between Nordic sobriety and Mediterranean gaiety. The interior experience is just as remarkable. The stairwell is enlivened by colourful geometric mosaics that line the floor, risers and a supporting panel, transforming each ascent into an artistic promenade. The bathroom, decorated with panels of stylised waves, evokes the purest formal research of Art Deco. These decorations were partly designed on cardboard by the young architect Yves Le Moine, then employed by Novello, adding a collaborative, proto-modern dimension to the whole. Over the years, the house was enriched with extensions - a ground-floor office in 1929, a bedroom added in 1935 - without ever betraying the original design. The openwork cement fence with its geometric motifs, tinted in the same tones as the façade, completes the unity of an ensemble in which every detail is the product of the same decorative and constructive intelligence. Listed as a Historical Monument in 2018, the Novello house is now recognised as one of the finest examples of Modernist architecture from the first quarter of the 20th century in Brittany.
Architecture
The Novello house is based on a reinforced concrete structure, a modern load-bearing system combined with a hollow brick infill and worked cement rendering. The main building has a raised ground floor and a single storey, in a massed cubic plan, covered by a flat roof emphasised by a frankly overhanging cornice - a distinctive sign of the modernist aesthetic of the time. A grey cement base imitates the local granite, visually anchoring the building in its Breton territory, while the walls are tinted in a delicate 'eggshell' tone. The narrow, vertical windows are framed by full-height moulded panels topped by fibre cement frames surrounded by bright blue ceramic tiles, the dominant colour accent on the façade. Grey fluted cement planters punctuate the first floor, adding a touch of greenery to this resolutely mineral composition. Inside, the mosaic decoration forms the heart of the architectural experience. The stairwell is treated as a total art space: the floor, risers and supporting panelling are covered in polychrome geometric motifs, designed on cardboard by Yves Le Moine. The bathroom features figurative panels representing stylised waves, in a maritime Art Deco vein. The perimeter fence, made of cement with openwork geometric motifs and painted in the same tones as the façade, extends the building's decorative and material logic into the public space, making the whole a remarkably coherent piece of architecture.
Related Figures
Rodolphe Novello — entrepreneur en ciment, mosaïque et béton armé, commanditaire et habitant de la maisonYves Le Moine — jeune architecte employé chez Novello, auteur des cartons de mosaïques intérieuresAuguste Perret — figure tutélaire du béton armé en France, dont les recherches influencent les entrepreneurs comme NovelloTony Garnier — urbaniste et architecte lyonnais, pionnier du béton dans l'habitat, référence théorique du mouvement
Tags
Nearby castles
Frequently Asked Questions
Where is Maison dite maison Novello located?
Maison dite maison Novello is located in Rennes, Département 35 department, Bretagne region, France.
Is Maison dite maison Novello open to visitors?
Maison dite maison Novello is currently closed to visitors.
