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Heritage classified

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Origin and history

The present hotel of Bellac's sub-prefecture, built in the last quarter of the eighteenth century, was commissioned around 1775 by Jean-Joseph de Verdilhac, president of the civil and criminal lieutenant of the senes floor of the Basse-Marche. This rich royal notable built a house representative of local architecture, with classic facades with low arch windows and a three-sided forebody illuminating an octagonal living room. The interior preserves panelling and a wrought iron ramp staircase from the period.

When Verdilhac died in 1781, the property passed to his nephew, Martial de La Salle, Sieur de la Traverserie, and then to his son François, who sold it in 1828 to Paul Lagorce, future mayor of Bellac. The latter never lived and in 1860 the department of Haute-Vienne acquired it as a sub-prefecture. The architect remains unknown, although the names of Barbier (engineer of bridges and carriageways) and Vignaud (author of Lachenaud Castle) were mentioned as possible influences.

Ranked a Historic Monument in 1966 for its facades and roofs, the hotel embodies the prestige of the judicial and administrative elites of the region under the Old Regime. Its sober style, marked by railings in ironwork and a broken attic, reflects the aesthetic cannons of the Limousin mansions of the time. Tradition sometimes associates this place with the Mallebay de la Mothe family, but without documented evidence.

Located at 8 rue Lamartine, the building now belongs to the department. Its state of conservation makes it possible to appreciate the original interior layout, although the accuracy of its historical location is considered poor (note 5/10).

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