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Origin and history

The Hotel du Haubergier, located in Senlis in the Oise, is a mansion of the early sixteenth century, built on a cellar dating from the twelfth century. It is distinguished by its stone and brick façade, its octagonal staircase turret, and its statues of Virgin, including a beheading during the Revolution. The building served as a bourgeois residence before welcoming the archaeology museum from 1927 to 1982 and then becoming a private home again in 1983. Its name comes from Rue du Haubergier, a secondary axis of Senlis, although this name dates back to the 19th century.

The rue du Haubergier, mentioned in 1238 under variants such as vicum Haubergière, derives its name from the occupation of haubergier (craftman making knitttes), although no evidence confirms the presence of these artisans in the neighborhood. The hotel has always belonged to citizens of Senlis, unlike other private hotels in the city linked to religious institutions. The first identified owner is Regnault de Bonvilliers, Prévot Forain de Senlis in the 16th century, although charters of 1522 evoke neighbouring properties related to the family of Garlande, local lords.

From 1927 to 1982, the hotel houses the Senlis Museum of Art and Archaeology, run by the Society of History and Archaeology. The museum, organized on three floors (lapidarium in courtyard, remains in cellar, collections on the 1st floor), closed in 1940 after damage caused by a German shell. A long legal conflict with the owner delayed its reopening until 1955, after the municipal takeover in 1951. Collections are then transferred to the city, except the library. The hotel, classified as a Historic Monument in 1933 (registration) and then in 1987 (partial classification), returned to residential use in 1983.

The hotel's architecture combines Renaissance elements (windows, prismatic mouldings) and Gothic traces (chimers, gargoyles). The vaulted cellar, in two levels, includes an old underground quarry that provided part of the building's stones. The facade on street, more rustic, contrasts with the interior courtyard made of cut stone. The stair turret, damaged in 1940, was restored in the 1950s. A statue of Virgin with Child, beheaded during the Revolution, was replaced in 1997 by a moulding.

The well of the courtyard, once shared with the neighbouring house, and the statues (including a Virgin on a canned column) recall the domestic and symbolic uses of the period. The coat of arms of the lords of Ognon de la Fontaine, visible on the base of the statue, highlight the hotel's links with the local aristocracy. After decades of transformation (museum, restorations), the building today embodies the civil heritage of Senlis, between medieval history and Renaissance.

The protection of the hotel is part of a desire to preserve the preserved area of Senlis, marked by its medieval enclosure. Its inscription in 1933 and its partial ranking in 1987 reflect its architectural and historical importance. Although less well known than the religious monuments of the city, it bears witness to the bourgeois life in Senlis and the successive adaptations of its building, from medieval cellars to modern restorations.

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