Maison de Segré
MonumentHidden Treasure
In the heart of Segré, this 15th-century house is one of the rare medieval residences in Anjou to have retained its authentic character, with its tufa stone elevations and period mullioned windows.
History
Nestling in the town of Segré, on the edge of the Anjou bocage, this 15th-century house is a precious example of medieval civil architecture in Anjou. Listed as a Historic Monument since 1931, it belongs to that rare category of late middle-class dwellings that have escaped the alterations of subsequent centuries, retaining most of their original appearance. What makes this house truly remarkable is the coherence of its late Gothic architectural vocabulary, typical of the Val d'Anjou and its surrounding area: finely sculpted mullioned windows, gables with redents or crossettes, and white tufa stone surrounds set against local slate schist. This duality of materials - the dark schist of the load-bearing walls and the white stone of the decorative elements - is a signature of late medieval Anjou architecture. The experience of visiting the building, even from the outside, immediately immerses visitors in the atmosphere of a small market town at the end of the 15th century. The slightly overhanging street façade is reminiscent of the houses of local merchants and notables who kept trade and civic life alive in Segré, then a prosperous market town at the crossroads of the roads linking Angers to Brittany. The urban setting of Segré, a town of character established on the banks of the Verzée, adds to the interest of the visit. The house is part of an ancient fabric where other medieval traces remain, inviting visitors to take a wider heritage walk in this area of green Anjou, less visited than the banks of the Loire but with a real wealth of history. Enthusiasts of medieval civil architecture, photographers in search of authentic facades and local history enthusiasts will all find something to marvel at.
Architecture
The Segré house faithfully illustrates the canons of late Gothic civil architecture as practised in Anjou at the end of the 15th century. The construction principle is based on a combination of local materials typical of the region: the load-bearing walls are built from slate schist, a dark, robust stone quarried in the Anjou bocage, while the decorative and framing elements - windows, doors, cornices - are carved from white tufa, a soft, workable limestone that was the stone of choice for builders in Anjou and the Loire Valley. The facade has a layout typical of middle-class houses of the period: a two- or three-storey elevation, punctuated by stone mullioned windows whose delicate crosspieces let in light while marking the owner's social status. The gable, which is probably crenellated or decorated with crossettes, is a decorative element that reveals the care taken with the exterior. The steeply pitched roof, as was customary in this region with its wet winters, was traditionally covered with local slate. Inside, the long, narrow floor plan typical of village houses on the street boundary optimised the usable floor space while providing a representative facade overlooking the public space. The interior layout would have included a large hall on the first floor, barrel-vaulted cellars at the base and sculpted fireplaces, some of which have survived.
Related Figures
René d'Anjou, dit le roi René (1409-1480) — duc d'Anjou dont le mécénat artistique influença l'architecture civile de toute la province au moment de la construction de la maisonLouis XI (1423-1483) — roi de France sous le règne duquel l'Anjou fut rattaché à la Couronne, modifiant le contexte politique dans lequel s'inscrit la demeurePropriétaires bourgeois anonymes du XVe siècle — marchands ou officiers notables de Segré qui commandèrent et habitèrent cette demeure représentative de leur statutÉrudits locaux du XIXe siècle — membres de la Société d'Agriculture, Sciences et Arts d'Angers qui contribuèrent à identifier et signaler ce patrimoine médiéval méconnuInspecteurs des Monuments Historiques (1931) — fonctionnaires du patrimoine qui officièrent le classement de la maison par arrêté du 17 avril 1931
