Timeline

Heritage classified

Key figures

Origin and history

The Bide de la Grandville hotel is a private hotel located at 26-28 rue de Thionville in Lille, in the Nord department. Its construction began in 1714 with the transformation of small pre-existing houses into a large hotel. This initial project marks the beginning of an architectural development that will span more than a century, reflecting the tastes and needs of successive owners.

In 1784, the facade on the street was completely renovated to harmonize with the aesthetic standards of the time, while the right wing of the courtyard also underwent modifications. This work reflects a desire to beautify and adapt to the architectural modes of the 18th century, characteristic of Lille private hotels.

In the 19th century, the hotel changed hands and was acquired in 1857 by Louis Désiré Blanquart-Evrard, a prominent figure in the local industry and pioneer of art photography. Under its property, the hotel undergoes new transformations, including the addition of a portico to the Antique in front of the right wing, now disappeared. Blanquart-Evrard, founder of the Lille industrial museum, thus prints its brand on this place, combining heritage and innovation.

Subsequently, the hotel is divided and occupied by various users, including nuns from Saint-Aignan, tenants, and even a civilian home of war administration. This period of fragmentation and multiple use led to a gradual decline in the building, until its abandonment and degradation in the 1960s.

In 1969, the hotel, then abandoned and vandalized, was bought by private individuals — two couples of doctors — who undertook safeguard work to preserve its architectural heritage. These interventions mark a turning point in the history of the place, avoiding its disappearance and preparing the ground for a complete restoration.

At the beginning of the 2010s, an integral restaurant gives the Hotel Bidé de la Grandville its brilliance. The facades, roofs, as well as eleven rooms decorated with woodwork and stucco (six on the ground floor and five on the floor), have been protected since 1971 by a classification as historical monuments. The whole building, excluding classified parts, has been registered since 2007, consolidating its preservation for future generations.

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