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Heritage classified

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Origin and history

The Hotel de Brueys, also known as the Hotel André or Hotel d'Aubais, is an emblematic civil building of Nîmes, built in the seventeenth century and almost entirely rebuilt in 1779. It preserves some remains of the earlier buildings, including a vaulted gallery dating back to 1717. The Aubais family owned it before it was sold in 1620 to Fabrique's family, who kept it for more than 150 years. In 1781, the André family made major improvements, such as the façade balanced by two lateral forebodys and a peristyle with Tuscan columns.

The hotel's architectural composition is marked by a vaulted vestibule, doors adorned with garlands, and a wrought iron ramp staircase with geometrical and volute motifs. The enfilade apartments, still intact, retain their original decorations. Partly listed in 1964, it was fully classified as a historic monument in 2012, highlighting its heritage importance in the historic centre of Nîmes.

Located at 3 Dorée Street, the hotel illustrates the evolution of Nîmes private hotels, mixing 17th century heritage and neoclassical transformations of the 18th century. Its Tuscan portico, its twin columns and its carved stairwell make it a rare testimony to the civil architecture of the time. The archives also mention its connection to the castle of Rodilhan, property of the Fabrique family, but no vestige of the sixteenth century is now visible.

Sources, including Mérimée records and guides such as the Blue Guides (1988), confirm its status as a protected monument and its partial openness to the public. Its history reflects the social dynamics of Nîmes, where aristocratic or bourgeois families marked their prestige by sumptuous urban residences, often rebuilt to follow architectural modes.

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