Timeline

Heritage classified

Origin and history

The house Barthélémy is a farmhouse built in limestone stone, located in Serécourt in the Vosges department. Its architecture reveals characteristic elements of the 16th century, such as a semi-out-of-work staircase turret, a lintel in braid for the pedestrian door, and a lintel in full hanger for the carriageway door. The house, partially destroyed today, was organized in two rooms deep and two on the facade, with an original access through the barn, where there was also a cellar. The roof, covered with hollow tiles, and that of the turret, in scale tiles, complete this remarkable rural complex.

The dovecote, embedded in the top floor of the turret, and the presence of halliers (hedges or plant fences) suggest an autarchic farm, common in the Lorraine countryside of the Renaissance. The farm was listed as a historical monument in 1993, a unique case in its study area and restored in 1995. Its plan and architectural details make it a rare testimony of the fortified or semi-fortified farms of this period, reflecting both defensive needs and a structured domestic organization.

Entry through the barn, atypical, could indicate a willingness to protect access to the house or to streamline travel between work and housing spaces. The partial destruction of the house (left side) today alters the complete understanding of its original arrangement, but the preserved elements, such as the cellar and carved lintels, attest to artisanal know-how and a hierarchy of spaces, peculiar to the wealthy farms of the time.

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