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Heritage classified

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Origin and history

The Cusenier distillery is an industrial complex built between 1881 and 1885 in Ornans (Doubs), by Eugène Cusenier, founder of the brand E. Cusenier, Senior Son and Cie. It replaces a first distillery erected in 1865 on the same site, dedicated to the production of kirsch and absinthe. The set, made of cut stone, includes a U-style employer's house, commons, and a manufacturing workshop equipped with alambics. The glass windows, signed by master glassmaker Alphonse Gorgeon, adorn the bays of the dwelling. In 1894, the factory employed 29 employees (25 workers and 4 administrative). At the death of Eugene, his brother Elisha Cussenier took over until the site closed in 1937, in favour of a Dijon factory.

After its closure, the buildings were reconverted: the employer's house was bought in 1953 by the Congregation of the Sisters of the Holy Family, which installed a school there, transforming the ground floor into classrooms and the floor into houses for the nuns. The factory became a gymnasium in 1981. Only the entire employer housing, with its original decoration (wood staircase, stained glass windows of Gorgeon), is listed as historical monuments in 2000. The buildings on the street, with broken roofs covered with dardian, once housed offices, shops, and a covered passageway.

The architecture reflects the industrial prosperity of the late 19th century: limestone, exposed metal frame in the workshop, and slate roofs or mechanical tiles. The distillery is part of the expansion of the Cusenier house, which has subsidiaries in Paris (1871) and Buenos Aires (1890). The site, located at 9 rue Eugène-Cusenier, illustrates the industrial heritage of Burgundy-Franche-Comté, combining technical heritage and urban conversion.

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