Maison de Saint-Laurent-des-Hommes
MonumentHidden Treasure
Maison de Saint-Laurent-des-Hommes, located in Saint-Laurent-des-Hommes (Dordogne), 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
- Saint-Laurent-des-Hommes, Dordogne, Nouvelle-Aquitaine
- Visit
- Closed to visitors
- GPS
- 45.0371, 0.2536
- Mérimée Reference
- PA00082854
In the heart of the Périgord region, this 16th-17th-century bourgeois house conceals an exceptional Louis XIII-style wooden balcony, a rare example of the elegant joinery of the provincial Renaissance.
History
In Saint-Laurent-des-Hommes, a discreet village in the Dordogne nestling between Bergerac and Mussidan, stands a middle-class house whose sober façade conceals a treasure trove of carved wood: a Louis XIII balcony of remarkable quality, listed as a Historic Monument in 1948. This type of civil building, often neglected in favour of châteaux and abbeys, is nevertheless one of the most authentic testimonies to wealthy life in Périgord in centuries gone by. What really sets this residence apart is the coexistence of two periods, clearly visible on the façade and in the woodwork. The main structure and some of the interior woodwork are reminiscent of the late 16th century, with its proportions still marked by the late Gothic tradition and the first stirrings of the Renaissance. The balcony, on the other hand, belongs to a more assertive decorative language: the Louis XIII style, with its baluster turns, bold mouldings and sober but elegant ornamental vocabulary, characteristic of the first half of the 17th century. The visitor experience here is intimate and contemplative. Unlike the great fortresses open to mass tourism, this house can be appreciated from the street, in a silent face-to-face encounter with the patient work of the Périgord carpenters and joiners of yesteryear. The quality of execution of the balcony, with its turned colonnettes and openwork gallery, bears witness to a wealthy and cultured patron who was sensitive to the fashions of the royal court. The setting of Saint-Laurent-des-Hommes, a village on a human scale bathed in the golden light of the white Périgord, adds to the charm of this discovery. The house is set in an ancient urban fabric where limestone and worked wood blend harmoniously, offering lovers of civil architecture and local history a stopover that's as brief as it is unforgettable.
Architecture
The house is typical of 16th and 17th century Périgord architecture, combining the robustness of local limestone with the sophistication of carefully crafted oak woodwork. The sober, measured street elevation is enlivened by the central presence of the Louis XIII balcony, the major architectural feature. The balcony features finely turned baluster columns, a moulded top rail and a projecting wooden floor, forming a protected gallery that is representative of the joinery of the first half of the 17th century. The care taken with the joints and proportions betrays the hand of a craftsman who mastered his art perfectly. The 16th-century joinery, visible in other parts of the façade or interior, provides an interesting stylistic counterpoint. Their profiles, more angular and marked by the Gothic vestiges of the provincial Renaissance, contrast with the roundness and lightness of the Louis XIII forms. This superimposition of two decorative strata on the same residence is a valuable architectural document for understanding the evolution of taste in Périgord between the end of the 16th and the middle of the 17th centuries. Although modest in scale, the ensemble reveals a real mastery of the ornamental languages of its time.
Related Figures
Propriétaire bourgeois du XVIe siècle (commanditaire de la construction originelle, identité non établie)Maître menuisier ou charpentier périgordin du XVIIe siècle (auteur présumé du balcon Louis XIII)Inspecteur des Monuments Historiques ayant instruit le dossier d'inscription de 1948
Tags
Frequently Asked Questions
Where is Maison de Saint-Laurent-des-Hommes located?
Maison de Saint-Laurent-des-Hommes is located in Saint-Laurent-des-Hommes, Dordogne department, Nouvelle-Aquitaine region, France.
When was Maison de Saint-Laurent-des-Hommes built?
Maison de Saint-Laurent-des-Hommes dates back to a period built during the Renaissance (16th century).
Is Maison de Saint-Laurent-des-Hommes open to visitors?
Maison de Saint-Laurent-des-Hommes is currently closed to visitors.