Maison
Monument
Maison, located in Lille (Nord), is a modern edifice built in the 19th-20th centuries. The monument is currently closed to visitors.
Key facts
- Type
- autre
- Period
- Modern (19th-20th century)
- Location
- Lille, Nord, Hauts-de-France
- Visit
- Closed to visitors
- GPS
- 50.6279, 3.0459
- Mérimée Reference
- PA59000147
In Lille, this early 20th-century residence conceals a rich interior where Art Nouveau, neo-Renaissance and neo-classicism interact in perfect harmony, right down to the peacock-tailed fireplace.
History
In the urban fabric of Lille, this private house from the first quarter of the 20th century is one of the most complete and surprising examples of the decorative syncretism that characterised French bourgeois architecture at the dawn of the Belle Époque and the inter-war years. Its sober facade, adorned with a ceramic frieze and eclectic, classically-inspired decoration, gives no hint of the richness that awaits inside. To cross the threshold of this residence is to embark on a journey through the styles and sensibilities of an era of transition. The Art Nouveau vestibule welcomes you with its organic lines and plant motifs, while a neo-classical waiting room bears witness to the dual purpose of the place - both private residence and space dedicated to medical practice. The fully tiled surgery room and the Art Nouveau-style study, whose ceiling faithfully reproduces that of the former private office of the Prefect of Nord at the Lille Prefecture, add a historical and almost political dimension to this domestic space. On the garden side, the living rooms display a decorative sequence of rare coherence, despite the multiplicity of styles used. The neo-Renaissance staircase, whose banister starts in the shape of a sculptural chimera, leads to a dining room decorated with inlaid ceramic friezes, and a neo-Eighteenth Century drawing room whose panelling is decorated with medallions illustrating the Fables of La Fontaine and Aesop - a humanist and literary iconographic programme of great finesse. The Art Nouveau winter garden is undoubtedly the highlight of this interior tour. Its walls are panelled with a low tile pattern of seahorses and snails, crowned by a frieze of snails facing each other around mushrooms in relief, plunging visitors into a whimsical, almost dreamlike naturalist world. The mantelpiece, with its hearth in the shape of an outstretched peacock's tail, makes this room a masterpiece of Symbolist ornament applied to domestic architecture.
Architecture
The façade of the house adopts an eclectic, classically inspired style, typical of French bourgeois architecture at the turn of the 20th century. Its main exterior originality lies in a ceramic frieze that enlivens the composition and discreetly announces the richness of the interior ornamentation. The ensemble displays the compositional rigour typical of Lille architecture from this period, heir to a Flemish tradition revisited by French academicism. The interior organisation reveals a rigorous functional division: on the street side, the professional medical spaces (Art Nouveau vestibule, neo-classical waiting room, tiled surgery room, Art Nouveau office with prestigious ceiling); on the garden side, the private living areas display a neo-Renaissance then Art Nouveau stylistic sequence. This duality between public-professional space and private-residential space is enhanced by decorative treatments that are carefully differentiated according to the use of each room. Among the most remarkable architectural features are the neo-Renaissance staircase, the banister of which originates in a sculpted chimera - a fantastic heraldic motif of the highest quality - the low panelling in the conservatory, tiled with marine and botanical motifs (seahorses, snails, mushrooms), and the fireplace, the hearth of which reproduces the shape of an unfurled peacock's tail, a masterpiece of applied decorative ceramics. The wood panelling in the neo-eighteenth-century drawing room, adorned with medallions depicting the Fables of La Fontaine and Aesop, completes this exceptionally coherent humanist iconographic programme.
Related Figures
Léonce Hainez — architecte lillois, auteur des plans initiaux de la maison dès 1909Albert Giovannoni — architecte ayant repris et achevé la direction des travaux jusqu'en 1922Jean de La Fontaine — dont les Fables illustrent les médaillons du salon néo-XVIIIe siècleÉsope — fabuliste grec antique dont les récits ornent également les boiseries du salonLe préfet du Nord — dont le cabinet particulier de la préfecture de Lille a inspiré le plafond du bureau Art Nouveau
Tags
Frequently Asked Questions
Where is Maison located?
Maison is located in Lille, Nord department, Hauts-de-France region, France.
When was Maison built?
Maison dates back to a period built in the modern era (19th-20th century).
Is Maison open to visitors?
Maison is currently closed to visitors.