Timeline

Heritage classified

Key figures

Origin and history

The house located at 86 rue des Granges in Besançon is a hybrid building between bourgeois house and mansion, built between the 16th and 18th centuries. It is distinguished by its irregular structure, including a two-storey street house, commons, and a building dedicated to stables and restored to the back of the courtyard. The materials used vary according to the parts: cut stone for the house and the commons, coated stone for the right housing, with flat tile covers, mechanical tiles or slate. The metal workshop, later added, rests on iron consoles and a cast iron column, illustrating functional adaptations over the centuries.

The history of the house reflects its social and architectural evolution. The façade on Rue des Granges retains features from the 16th century, while the facades on courtyard and the large staircase date from the late 17th or early 18th century. In the middle of the 18th century, the Marquis de Falletans, the owner of the site, undertook minor works such as the beating at the boucharde de la façade (1770) and the modification of the secondary gate (1780). The building was then acquired by Jean-Joseph Duchon, master of forging, who transformed the windows on the first floor into window holders with guardrails in wrought iron at the beginning of the 19th century.

In the 19th century, the house underwent changes related to its urban environment. In 1808, the construction of the neighbouring municipal library influenced developments, such as the replacement of the secondary gate. In 1885, a new dwelling was erected on the right of the court, bearing the monogram of the owners Alfred Maire and Adèle Faucompré. The workshop, used as watchmaking in the 20th century, bears witness to the economic adaptation of the building. Although considered for an extension of the library, the project was abandoned after its acquisition by the municipality in 1987, before being sold to an individual.

The house illustrates the civil architecture of bisontine, mixing medieval elements (chamber vaulted cellars) and classics (monstrous staircases, redone facades). Its irregular plan and heterogeneous materials reflect successive additions, while details such as a wallpaper of 1820 (dufour manufacture) or the stained glass windows of the workshop highlight its eclecticism. Classified as a Historical Monument in 2000, it retains a coherent set despite its transformations, offering a material testimony of the lifestyles and social status intermediate at Besançon between Renaissance and modern times.

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