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Origin and history

The house located 10-12 rue du Marché in Gray is an emblematic building of the 15th and 16th centuries, marked by a civil architecture typical of the late Middle Ages. Its high gable on street and its two stair towers in view – one opening on the street, the other on the courtyard – make it a rare example of public attic or tithe house. The entrance doors, framed with ionic pilasters and decorated with cartouches carved with plant motifs and damners, date from the second half of the 16th century. The structure, with its five-level farms, supports a long-paned roof, keeping the original volumetricity. An unidentified coat of arms, representing three mill irons, suggests a link to a local corporation or economic activity.

The interior distribution reveals a functional organization: the building on 10 rue du Marché houses a large free volume from the 1st floor, characteristic of the attices, while 12 rue du Marché was used as a dwelling. A motto engraved on the staircase on the courtyard side, "God is my hope", evokes the Gauthiot d'Ancier family, owner of a nearby hotel whose remains remain. Major changes took place in the 17th and 19th centuries, as evidenced by a 17th century chimney and commercial developments on the ground floor. Ranked Historic Monument in 2002, the building illustrates the evolution of urban uses, from tithe storage to bourgeois habitat.

The semi hors-oeuvre staircases, with their richly decorated doors, underline the symbolic importance of the building. The carriageway and the residual defensive elements recall its role in the economic life of Gray, then a merchant town of Franche-Comté. The successive changes, including the modification of the facades in the 19th century, reflect the adaptations to modern needs, while preserving traces of medieval functions. The lack of precise identification of the coat of arms and detailed archives leaves uncertainty about its exact use, between seigneurial attic, corporate house or place of perception of tithes.

The original frame, with its five levels of entry, is an exceptional testimony of the construction techniques of the time. The farms, still visible, support a roof whose steep slope is typical of medieval storage buildings. Partially preserved splint berries allow a fine dating between the late 15th and early 16th centuries. Subsequent transformations, such as the addition of the 17th century chimney, show continued occupation, probably by wealthy families, such as the Gauthiot d'Ancier. The building, now protected, offers a rare example of transitional civil architecture between the Middle Ages and Renaissance in Burgundy-Franche-Comté.

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