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Heritage classified

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Origin and history

The Hotel Plamon, also known as the Consuls' House although it had never housed this institution, is a private hotel located 6–10 rue des Consuls in Sarlat-la-Canéda (Dordogne). Built around 1330–40 by the family of Albusson, an influential patriotic line since the 13th century, the building adopts a U-shaped plan with wings bordering the Rue des Consuls and the Cuze. Its foundations incorporate a covered canal derived from the latter, testifying to advanced medieval engineering. The windows on the first floor, gleaned with roses, date from the 14th century, while those on the second floor were redone in the 15th century. The Hundred Years' War (1337–1453) disrupted the region, but Sarlat, despite his temporary attachment to England by the Treaty of Brétigny (1360), maintained some prosperity, as evidenced by the beginning of the work of the Church of St Mary in 1365.

The hotel changed hands in 1473, when notary Guillaume Plamon acquired his current name for the building. Although the Plamons were not the builders, they made major changes in the 17th century, including a north wing with an up-to-date stairwell and a Montpellier trunk supporting an appendix. A square tower, added to the south-east, served as a private passage to the nearby hotel of La Brousse, with half-storeys communicating alternately between the two residences. The weapons of the Plamon, carved on the triangular front of the entrance, recall their grip on the site. Despite these developments, the hotel was neglected after its sale (date unknown in the seventeenth century) and expropriated by the city in 1950 for rescue, before a restoration completed in 1970.

Ranked a historic monument in 1889, the Plamon Hotel stands out for its Gothic facade with carved decorations, mixing ogival openings (ground floor), trilobed windows (first floor), and a Louis XIII balcony supported by a trunk. Inside, there are medieval elements such as niches, sinks, latrines, and original chimneys. The courtyard staircase, with its ramp and 17th century balusters, illustrates the subsequent transformations. Although never owned by the municipality, its home name of the Consuls persists, perhaps due to its prestige or confusion with other Sarladese buildings.

The families linked to the hotel embody the local elite: the d'Albusson, royal bayles or abbots of Sarlat from the thirteenth century (such as Gérad d'Albusson, bayle in 1254, or Elijah d'Albusson, consul in 1298), gave way to the Plamons, notaries and owners in the 15th-17th centuries. Their history reflects the urban dynamics of Sarlat, between commercial prosperity (financing of Sainte-Marie), Anglo-French conflicts, and architectural adaptations to Renaissance tastes. The expropriation of 1950 marks a turning point in its preservation, transforming this witness of medieval civil heritage into a symbol of the preservation of the old Sarlat.

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