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Heritage classified

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Origin and history

The Hotel de Josselin, built in the first half of the eighteenth century, is a remarkable example of Breton civil architecture of this period. This granite-cut stone house, complemented by stables and houses in schist bellows, is distinguished by its six-span elevation, its rotating wooden staircase and its panelling covering all rooms. The homogeneity of its façade, marked by a band between the levels, framed bays and a feasted cornice, makes it a rare building in Josselin entirely built of cut stone.

It is assumed that Robin de Paimpoul, then mayor of Josselin, would have built this hotel from an older building, with traces still remaining. To the right of the house, a covered passage led to a fenced courtyard, now transformed into houses. The skylights, with alternately curved and triangular frontons, as well as decorative elements, testify to the care taken in its construction.

A restoration was confirmed in 1811, as indicated by the date on the southwest corner of the first floor. The monument, partially protected since 1996 (inscription of the house in the inventory of Historical Monuments), illustrates the architectural and social evolution of Josselin between the seventeenth and nineteenth centuries. Its panelling and staircase, characteristic of the eighteenth century, may have been specially designed for Robin de Paimpoul, although this hypothesis remains to be confirmed.

The hotel's location at 4 rue Olivier-de-Clisson, in a historic area of Josselin, reinforces its heritage interest. Its state of conservation and successive transformations offer a valuable testimony to the lifestyles of local elites in the modern era.

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