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Heritage classified

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Origin and history

The Auberge de la Tête Noire, located 4 rue Saint-Aubin in Angers, is a bourgeois house built around 1546 for the merchant and Huguenot Pierre Richard. This large house, composed of two buildings connected by an elevated gallery in wood and a staircase in stone screws, illustrates the civil architecture of the Renaissance. The main house, on two floors, and the secondary body at the back of the courtyard, on one floor, mix local materials such as the tuft for the facades and the schist for the large work. The long-paned, leaning cover reflects the constructive techniques of the time.

The house was commissioned by Pierre Richard, a Protestant merchant whose religious beliefs were worth hanging in front of his home in 1562. Originally called the Pearl in the 18th century, probably with reference to a missing sign, it then belonged to Jean Nouchet, clerk of the Waters and Forests. The building still preserves two chimneys from the 17th to 18th centuries, testimonies of the later developments. In 1892, the earlier elevation, struck by alignment, was rebuilt by the architect Jules Stayed for the butcher Victor Besnard, with interior changes affecting the gallery and the ground floor.

Partially classified at the Historic Monuments in 1931 for its staircase on courtyard, the Auberge de la Tête Noire underwent major transformations in the 20th century, including a drastic ravage of the posterior elevation. The carpenter's marks visible on a working beam on the ground floor of the gallery attest to the reuse of materials during the work. Despite these changes, the building remains a remarkable example of the Renaissance Angelian urban habitat, combining residential and commercial functions.

The site, whose location is considered fair (note 5/10), is now known as the Black Head Inn, although its current use (visit, accommodation or other) is not specified in the available sources. The archives mention its exact address: 4 rue Saint-Aubin, in the department of Maine-et-Loire (49), in the region Pays de la Loire.

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