Timeline

Heritage classified

Origin and history

The log house at 7-9 rue Jean-Girard in Bourges was built after the great fire of 1487, which ravaged part of the city. This event marked a turning point in local construction techniques: the new houses, although retaining the traditional half-timbering, were equipped with very little pronounced facade projections. This precaution was intended to prevent the spread of flames from one side to the other of the street, a lesson learned directly from the disaster.

The present building is the result of the assembly of two medieval houses whose gables on street are juxtaposed. On the ground floor, the old shops, typical of the commercial urban planning of the time, have been transformed into a restaurant hall during more recent periods. The upper floors and the attic, on the other hand, preserved their original structure: an apparent wood section organized in crumbs forming lozenged and tight meshes, characteristic of the reconstructions of the late 15th and early 16th century.

Classified as a Historical Monument since 1965, this house bears witness to both the craftsmanship of the period and the urban adaptations to the risks of fire. The facades and roofs, protected by decree, constitute a remarkable example of bourgeois civil architecture of the nascent Renaissance in Berry. The initial location, rue Édouard-Vaillant (former name of rue Jean-Girard), also highlights the toponymic evolutions of the city over the centuries.

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