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Heritage classified

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Origin and history

The Bernède Manor House, located in Pessac-sur-Dordogne in Gironde, is a historical monument built in part in the 16th century. His apparatus of small irregular bellows and his numerous firing stations suggest a defensive origin, characteristic of the disturbances of this period. Architectural changes, such as the addition of a tower of stairs and chimneys upstairs, date back to the 17th century, reflecting an adaptation to more residential uses.

The western entrance door, pierced or restored in the 17th century, and the interior plan organized in three rooms on two levels, testify to an evolution in the spatial organization of the mansion. These developments illustrate a transition from an initial military function to a stronger domestic use. The manor house, fully protected by a decree of 25 April 2007, thus retains traces of these two distinct periods.

The location of the mansion in the New Aquitaine region is part of a historical context marked by the religious conflicts of the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries. Local lords and landowners then played a key role in the social and economic organization, often manifested by the construction or transformation of fortified residences like this one. These buildings served as both a refuge, a symbol of power and a place of life for the affluent families of the region.

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