Timeline

Heritage classified

Key figures

Origin and history

The Hotel Le Minaret, originally called Villa Magdalena or Kermadalen, was built between 1926 and 1928 in Benodet by architect Albert Laprade for Dr Heitz-Boyer, doctor linked to the Glaoui of Marrakech. This project marks a transition in the career of Laprade, originally formed in Morocco under the direction of Henri Prost, where he developed a style combining harmony of Arab volumes and modernity. The villa, with its rooftop terraces, prismatic windows and its liner silhouette, illustrates this unique fusion between Muslim references and modernist movement, rare in its work.

The Magdalena villa, now known as Minaret, retains bold architectural elements for the time, such as its dissymmetry and guardrails, as well as its original garden, carefully designed by Laprade. Although modified, the building remains the only example in Brittany of this hybrid architecture, influenced by the Arab palaces and the liner style. Its inscription in the Historic Monuments in 1997 protects both the villa and its garden, witness to a pivotal period in the architectural evolution.

Albert Laprade (1883–78) drew inspiration from Morocco, where he worked in 1915 at the Service des plans des villes, under the direction of Henri Prost. His North African experience was a lasting sign of his approach, as evidenced by the Magdalena villa, where he experimented with contrasting volumes and a stripped aesthetic. This project, although exceptional in its production, prefigures its evolution towards a classicism tinted with modernity, while remaining anchored in the architectural lessons of the Maghreb.

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