Timeline

Heritage classified

Key figures

Origin and history

The house at 2 rue Birris (formerly 97 and 107) in Westhoffen, Lower Rhine, is a remarkable building from the 1st quarter of the 17th century, partially renovated in the 2nd quarter of the 20th century. It is distinguished by its structure in decorative wooden strips, including crosses of St Andrew's, diamond and circular motifs in allegories. The building rests on a masonry solin housing a partially buried cellar, whose suppireaux retain zippers. The carriage door, adorned with an arch in a basket handle and Renaissance motifs imitating ironwork, falls on pieddroits in the form of engaged columns. A masonry polygonal turret, with a screw staircase, is attached to the drop-reel wall.

The date of 1614, engraved on the shield of the key of the carriageway door, attests to its early construction in the seventeenth century. A second shield, dated 1710 and bearing the initials GR and a butcher's snitch, adorns the outer play of the stone bench in front of the house. Subsequent modifications were made to the ancillary buildings. Ranked a historic monument by decree of 29 April 1931 for its facades and roof, this house, known as Hoffmann House, illustrates the Alsatian civil architecture of the modern era, mixing agricultural functionality and refined decor.

The interiors have a tridirectional solving in the parquet floors on both levels with wooden panels, while the exterior posts have chevron guettes and full ties. These elements, combined with its privileged location at the corner of major streets of the village, underline its heritage importance. The available sources (Wikipedia, Monumentum) confirm its status as a major architectural witness of the Bas-Rhin, included in the list of historical monuments of the commune and the department.

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