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Heritage classified

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Origin and history

The Hotel de Bryas, located 15 Place Charles-Gruet in Bordeaux, was built in 1822 by architect Gabriel-Joseph Durand for the Marquis de Bryas, briefly mayor of the city (1830-1831) under the monarchy of July. Its facade, decorated with ionic columns, and its living rooms decorated by sculptor Florian Bonino reflect neo-classical elegance. The hotel changed hands several times in the 19th century, sheltering even the Archbishop of Bordeaux after the laws of 1905.

In 1923, wine merchant René Delor acquired the hotel and entrusted his restoration to architect Pierre Ferret. The latter expanded the façade in 1925 to include a garage, while preserving the neo-classical stylistic unit. Inside, Ferret skilfully marries neo-classical elements (like stairs) and Art Deco (dining room mural). It also adds a circular temple with ionic columns in the garden, crowned with a dome.

The current owners have recently restored the back façade (vitrage of the peristyle, balcony window) and the garden (bassins, rock). The aim of this work is to maintain a balance between the 19th century legacy and the additions of the 1920s. The hotel, registered to historical monuments since 2012, thus illustrates two centuries of Bordeaux architectural history, from neo-classicism to art deco.

Together, including the garden, has been fully protected since 2012. Interior decors, particularly rich, combine neo-classical reinterpretations with original creations from the 1920s. The hotel also bears witness to the social changes of Bordeaux, moving from aristocratic residence to ecclesiastical power, then to bourgeois property linked to the wine trade.

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