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Heritage classified

Key figures

Origin and history

Charron House, built around 1740, is the first building built within the framework of the subdivision of Feydeau Island in Nantes. This urban project, launched in 1723, aimed to urbanize a sand bank by embankment, with a strict architectural code imposed by engineer Jacques Goubert. Parcel No. 24, acquired in 1733 by the merchant Pierre Charron for 18,000 pounds, was the largest and best-placed parcel of the subdivision. The building, of neo-classical style, marked a partial break with the original plans, notably by its six spans on the west facade instead of five.

Built before the abandonment of Goubert's architectural rules in 1743, the Charron house is distinguished by its balcony running on the first floor, its wrought iron railing and its carved consoles. The foundations are based on stilts of oak, an innovative technique attributed to the architect Pierre Rousseau, but insufficient to avoid problems of stability: the facades were tilted as soon as they rose. After the death of Pierre Charron, the building was divided in 1785 and transferred to the merchant Mathurin Trottier.

At the beginning of the 19th century, the house housed the slave shipowner Jean Peltier Dudoyer, who died there in 1803. Classified as an additional inventory of historical monuments in 1984, it illustrates the architectural evolution of Feydeau Island, between initial urban constraints and subsequent adaptations. The facades and roofs, protected, bear witness to this heritage linked to the golden age of the Nantes trade.

The building also reflects the social dynamics of the time: built for a rich trader, it symbolizes the economic power of Nantes' trading elites, active in the slave trade and colonial trade. Its history is inseparable from that of Feydeau Island, an emblematic district of the city's urban and port development in the 18th century.

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