Timeline

Heritage classified

Key figures

Origin and history

Villers Manor House, located in Saint-Pierre-de-Manneville, Seine-Maritime, finds its origins in the 16th century as a "master house" built in 1581. Built in Caumont stone with a wood-paned floor and covered with small tiles, it embodies the typical architecture of the Norman Renaissance. This seigneurial site, mentioned in the sources from the 16th century, passes into the hands of influential families, including the Méry de Bellegarde in the 18th century.

In 1764 Antoine-Michel Blondel, seigneur of Berthenonville and comptroller of the Normandy Parliament, acquired the seigneury of Villers. In 1784 he passed it on to his nephew, Michel-Louis Mery, the first bishop of Rouen, who extended his estate by buying the nearby castle of Bellegarde in 1786. These owners mark the history of the mansion, then composed of a log house in wood, a chapel, a dovecote and agricultural buildings, all surrounded by a park.

In the 19th century, the mansion underwent major changes, while in the early 20th century, around 1905, the Rouenese architect Charles Lassire undertook a radical transformation. He adds a Norman-style pavilion and dresses the facades of a characteristic trompe-l'oeil, giving the mansion its current neo-Norman look. The chapel, dating from the sixteenth or seventeenth centuries, was rebuilt in the same regionalist momentum around 1908. This work is part of a desire for modernization while preserving old elements, such as re-used wood panels.

Partially listed as historical monuments since 1997 for its facades, roofs and chapel, the Villers mansion is also distinguished by its park, labeled "Remarkable Garden". This place thus bears witness to centuries of history, mixing seigneurial heritage, architectural transformations and contemporary heritage valorization.

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