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Heritage classified

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Origin and history

The Hotel Labattut, located in Alet-les-Bains, is a 16th and 17th century building, combining wood and stone. Its façade on the square has a corbellation supported by stone crows in quarter-round, while the emplacement uses bricks arranged in point of Hungary. The top floor forms a skeleton gallery. Inside, the layouts have been modified several times, but the original structure, with its vertical posts and its rare half-timber, remains partially visible.

The house, built before 1550, was first owned by Géraud Coussergues, a draper merchant, who passed it on to his family until 1767. In 1628 his son married Françoise de Montesquieu, a noble Languedocian lineage. In 1783, the house became an inn, the Hand of Money, after its acquisition by Antoine Carbon. His name would come from a legend related to Mazarin's stay in 1659: an officer allegedly offered a gauntlet at home after Françoise de Montesquieu refused to be paid for accommodation.

Ranked a Historic Monument in 1948 for its facades and roofs, the building also served as a family pension in the 19th century. Today closed, it bears witness to late medieval civil architecture and local social history, mixing commerce, nobility and hospitality. The protected elements include facades on the square and street, as well as roofs, according to the decree of 5 April 1948.

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