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Heritage classified

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Origin and history

The mansion located at 56 boulevard du Général-de-Gaulle in Roubaix is an emblematic example of bourgeois architecture of the late 19th century. Built in the last quarter of the century, it fits into a set of 17 homogeneous facades, between Colbert and Charles-Quint streets, on the former boulevard de Paris. The latter, plotted on the location of the Roubaix Canal, linked outlying districts to the city centre and housed the homes of industrial and bourgeois families.

The facades of these hotels, often designed by architects Achille Edouard Dupire-Rozan and Auguste Dupire-Deschamps, combine decorative elements inspired by the Renaissance and classicism. Frontons, skylights, cartridges and shellings present an ostentatious architectural vocabulary, characteristic of the eclectic style of northern cities at that time. The typological unit of these buildings reflects the desire to display social and economic wealth, linked to the industrial development of Roubaix.

The hotel of 56 boulevard du Général-de-Gaulle was listed as a historical monument by order of 18 December 1998. This protection specifically concerns its facade and roof on street, highlighting the heritage value of its architecture. The entire range of houses, despite some alterations (especially at numbers 80 and 82), remains a remarkable testimony of the luxurious residential urbanism of the late 19th century in the Lille metropolis.

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