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Heritage classified

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Origin and history

Bridier House is a typical 15th century building located at 2 rue des Serruriers in Montluçon, in the Allier department. This wood-paned building, with a first floor in corbellation supported by horn posts, reflects the bourgeois and merchant civil architecture of the period. Its location, north of the former hall of the big butcher shop, highlights its link with the commercial activities of the city, including the butcher shop, the dominant sector in Montluçon.

The house belonged from the 15th century to the Bridier family, influential butcher merchants of the region. Their activity, focused on the meat trade, was part of a dynamic local economic network, as evidenced by the presence of a second house with shops dedicated to the sale of shoes. The backyard, surrounded by walls, opened on the current François Maugenest Square, a historic place where the main markets of the city were held.

In the 18th century, the house changed hands to those of local noble families: the Urban des Testards, Garreau de Faye, Deschamps de Verneix, and then Guérin de la Genebrière. These notables, living "noblely", marked a social evolution of the building, which nevertheless retained its original architectural character. The house was partially classified as a historic monument in 1929, with protection limited to its façade and roof, highlighting its heritage value.

Historical sources, such as the newsletters of the Friends of Montluçon (1979, 1989) or the book Montluçon, the noble hotels (2006), confirm its importance in the medieval urban landscape. The traces of an old shop on the ground floor and the wooden structure dated from the end of the 15th century make this a rare testimony of the commercial habitat of this period in Bourbonnais.

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