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Heritage classified

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Origin and history

The house of the Mermaid, also called inn of the Three Merchants or building Chesnel, is the last wooden house of the 15th century in Avranches, in the department of the Manche in Normandy. Its location, owned by the pre-demonstrated canons of the Abbey of La Lucerne, was a key place of medieval commerce organized on the Market Square, attested since the twelfth century. The income of the merchant sites was then transferred to the religious by Hasculphe de Subligny, local lord. At the time of the Revolution, the house was sold as a national property, and its windows on the ground floor, in the Directory style, were modified at that time.

Threatened by destruction in 1883 after its acquisition by the town hall of Avranches, the house escaped several slaughter projects for almost a century for administrative or financial reasons. Saved in the 1970s by Abbé Marcel Lelvisor, who emphasized its heritage importance, it was partially renovated by architect Jean Le Berre in 1972, then by Bernard and Véronique Des Robert in the 1980s. They set up a craft house there until the 2000s. In 2023, she became a café-concert under the impulse of Cyril Carbonne and Louise Walspeck, regaining her historic name as a house of the Sirene.

The building, whose facades and roofs have been listed as historical monuments since 1970, illustrates Norman medieval civil architecture. Its skylight, inspired by the model of Mont-Saint-Michel, was added during the renovations of the 20th century. The house is today a symbol of the preservation of the Avranchai heritage, linked to the religious and commercial history of the region. His rescue is part of a broader dynamic of valuing medieval remains in Normandy, as in Dinard.

The location of the house, at the corner of Rue Boudrie and Rue des Chapeliers, makes it a central point of the Market Square, historic heart of Avranches. Its history reflects urban transformations and the challenges of heritage conservation, between planned destruction and cultural rehabilitation. Partnerships with Historic Monument Services, UDAP and DRAC demonstrate its importance for regional heritage.

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