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Heritage classified

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Origin and history

The Hotel des Ingénieurs des Tréfileries is an emblematic building located in Le Havre, in the Eure district, integrated into the city in 1881. This area developed thanks to the rapid expansion of the port of Le Havre, attracting industries such as Lazare Weiller, which installed its tramways and rolling mills in 1892. The hotel was built between 1905 and 1910 to house visiting engineers and the director of the company, reflecting a sober bourgeois architecture on the facade but richly decorated inside.

The building, organized on two levels, features an interior décor of Jugendstyl inspiration, with a vestibule, a staircase, a dining room and a smoker lounge preserved intact. The furniture, sealed in the walls, and the organization of the floor in a passenger hotel, active until the 1960s, illustrate its mixed use. The ensemble, including its furniture, was listed as historic monuments on October 26, 1998, highlighting its heritage value.

Lazare Weiller, a visionary industrialist, developed not only factories but also a working-class city and social facilities, of which this hotel is one of the last vestiges. Today, it is privately owned and bears witness to the industrial golden age of Le Havre and its unique architectural heritage.

The building is located at 9 rue Charles-Porta (formerly Rue des Tréfileries), in an area marked by the history of the port and industrial. Its style and function make it a rare example of industry-related architecture, preserving both a bourgeois aesthetic and a practical organization for professional visitors.

The sober facades contrast with the inner richness, where each element, from furniture to panelling, was designed to reflect the social status of the occupants. This contrast between exterior simplicity and interior luxury is characteristic of the industrial homes of the time, intended to impress while remaining functional.

The inscription of historic monuments in 1998 allowed the entire building, including its interior decorations, to be protected, ensuring the transmission of this exceptional heritage to future generations. The site remains a valuable testimony to the economic and social history of Le Havre in the early twentieth century.

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