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Origin and history

The Hôtel de Villeneuve is a mansion built in the 3rd quarter of the 17th century in Saint-Étienne, in the Loire department. Located between courtyard and garden, it connects José-Frappa Street to the north and Gambetta Street to the south. Its north facade, masked by later constructions, retains a vaulted traboule on the ground floor. The building stands out for its French-style ceilings, woodwork and ferns, especially in the first floor gallery. Two rooms frame this traboule: to the east, a straight staircase, and to the west, a large decorated room.

The hotel was commissioned by Claude Julien-Chomat, who received the dowry plot after his marriage to Madeleine de Forcieu de Rochetaillée in 1658. It alternates its residence between this hotel and Villeneuve Castle near Firminy. In 1885 the historian and notary Claude Philippe Testenoire-Lafayette became its owner; its descendants retained it unchanged until the City of Saint-Étienne became co-owner in 1972. The facades and roofs, as well as vaulted rooms and woodwork, are listed as historical monuments by order of 17 January 1967. The hotel then houses the Musée du Vieux Saint-Étienne until 2018, run by the Association des Amis du Vieux Saint-Étienne.

Architecturally, the hotel illustrates the 17th century Stéphanois urban planning, where the aristocratic habitat is located in still sparsely populated areas. Its structure, with a symmetrical distribution of rooms around the traboule, reflects the codes of the mansions of the time. Ceilings and woodwork, typical of French classicism, highlight the prestige of its first occupants. After its restoration, the building combines private heritage and cultural vocation, testifying to its adaptation to contemporary uses.

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